Industry Added 33K Jobs in January, as Backlogs Fell

By ERIKA WALTER, Associated Builders and Contractors

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 — The U.S. construction industry added 33,000 jobs on net in January, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has grown by 44,000 jobs, an increase of 0.5%.

Nonresidential construction employment expanded by 27,900 positions, with gains in 2 of the 3 subcategories. Nonresidential specialty trades added 25,100 jobs, while nonresidential building added 3,600 new positions. Heavy and civil engineering lost 800 jobs in January.

The construction unemployment rate was 6.9% in January. Unemployment across all industries decreased to 4.3% and is 0.3 percentage points higher than one year ago.

“The construction industry, much like the broader labor market, rebounded in January,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “While that’s a welcome development, the industry lost 1,000 jobs in 2025, the first calendar year decline since 2020 and 2010 before that."

Much of the industry’s weakness is concentrated in the residential segment, where employment has declined by 43,600 jobs over the past year.

“Despite the lack of job growth in 2025, the industry’s unemployment rate is only modestly higher than one-year ago,” added Basu. “That dynamic at least partially stems from immigration enforcement and the downward pressure it has put on the industry’s labor supply. Neither last year’s weak employment growth nor current labor force dynamics have weighed on contractor confidence, with ABC members still upbeat about both their sales and staffing levels over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index.”

Contractor Backlogs Slip

On Feb. 10, ABC reported that its Construction Backlog Indicator fell to 8.0 months in January, according to an ABC member survey conducted Jan. 20 to Feb. 3. The reading is down 0.2 months from December and 0.4 months from January 2025.

• View ABC's Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index for January. View the full Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index data series.

Backlog continues to hold up better for larger contractors, rising over the past year for contractors with greater than $50 million in annual revenues while falling sharply for those with revenues below that threshold. 

ABC’s Construction Confidence Index reading for sales, profit margins and staffing levels increased again in January. Sales expectations are better than they were one year ago, while profit margin and staffing expectations are slightly worse. The readings for all three components remain above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations for growth over the next six months.

“Backlog fell to a four-year low in January, yet contractors remain shockingly sanguine about the near-term outlook,” said Basu. “Just 13% of contractors expect their sales to decrease over the next six months, the smallest share since February 2022. Despite that personal confidence, ABC members are far less optimistic about their competition; 46% of contractors expect that other contractors will see their sales decline over the next two quarters. Whether or not this personal optimism is justified will likely depend on the extent to which borrowing costs can decline in 2026.”