The not-seasonally adjusted national construction unemployment rate was down 2.6% in June 2021 from a year ago. and 45 states had lower unemployment rates over the same period, according to state-by-state analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released by Associated Builders and Contractors. Although not back to pre-pandemic levels, both overall employment and construction employment have demonstrated significant improvement during the past year.

National NSA construction employment was up 233,000 from June 2020. Nevertheless, seasonally adjusted construction employment remained 238,000 (or 3.1%) below its February 2020 peak, before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic began to affect employment numbers. This was better than national SA nonfarm payroll employment, which was 4.4% below its February 2020 peak as of June.

Reprinted courtesy of ABC, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.