Construction gained 25,000 jobs in January, continuing the industry’s long streak of monthly employment increases, but its unemployment rate reflected mixed results, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
The bureau’s latest monthly employment report, released Feb. 3, also shows that construction’s jobless rate moved up to 6.9%, from 4.4% in December, but the rate also was down from the the year-earlier level of 7.1%.
The BLS numbers also show that construction’s total employment rose by 294,000, or 3.9%, in the 12-month period ended in January, to a total of 7,884,000. BLS also noted that construction added an average of 22,000 jobs per month in 2022.
The BLS unemployment rate statistics are not adjusted for seasonal differences. But its job figures are seasonally adjusted.
All but one of construction’s segments recorded job increases in January, paced by the nonresidential specialty trades contractors category, which added 16,500.
