BLS Data for Construction Job Openings Shows Signs of Major Tightening in July

While construction employment remains at historically high levels, job openings in the construction market declined significantly in July, according to the most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data.
Job openings fell to 248,000 in July from 299,000 in June. While BLS doesn’t provide job openings data specifically for electrical contractors, Electrical Marketing estimates that electrical contractor employment typically is 13% of total construction employment.
Using this estimate, electrical contractor employment declined -17% MTM in July to 32,240; -41.6% from Jan. 2024’s 55,250 year-to-date (YTD) number; and -29% year-over-year (YOY) from July 2023’s 45,630 estimated electrical contractor job openings.
While monthly construction employment data can be quite volatile, there’s no doubt that the decline in construction job openings on a YTD and YOY basis is well-established and is one key indicator pointing to a slowdown on a national basis. BLS does not publish regional data from construction job openings.