The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has released its latest analysis into the US construction sector, highlighting the “extraordinarily low” job openings.
According to ABC’s analysis of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ survey into job openings and labour turnover. Under the terms of this survey, a job opening is defined as an unfilled position that an employer is actively recruiting for.
Overall, the US construction industry had 213,000 job openings as of the last day of October. This meant that job openings in the industry dropped by 18,000 in October and by 36,000 compared to the same period last year.
“The number of open, unfilled construction jobs remained extraordinarily low in October,” ABC chief economist Anirban Basu said.
“Hires, on the other hand, fell sharply for the month. This is consistent with other recent data, most of which has shown that the construction industry has been in a state of contraction throughout the majority of 2025.
“Because of the government shutdown, this JOLTS release is the most current indication of construction industry activity, and more updated data will not be available until later this month.
“Despite what has been a fairly dismal stretch of industry data, contractors remain upbeat about their hiring intentions over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index.”
