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ARLINGTON, VA. \u2014 The U.S. construction sector added 15,000 jobs in April while the sector\u2019s unemployment rate fell to a record low for the month, according to recent analysis<\/a> of new government data from the Associated General Contractors of America.<\/p>\n \u201cContractors can\u2019t find, reach, hire and train workers fast enough to keep pace with demand,\u201d said Stephen Sandherr, the association\u2019s chief executive officer, in a release. \u201cThe pool of qualified, available labour is the smallest the industry has ever seen for the month of April.\u201d<\/p>\n Construction employment in April totalled 7,903,000, seasonally adjusted, an addition of 15,000 or 0.2 per cent from the month prior.<\/p>\n Nonresidential construction firms added only 800 employees in April. Meanwhile, employment at residential building and specialty trade contractors grew by 14,200 or 0.4 per cent.<\/p>\n The unemployment rate among jobseekers with construction experience declined from 4.6 per cent in April 2022 to 4.1 per cent, the lowest April rate in the 23-year history of the data.<\/p>\n A separate government report released recently reported that job openings in construction at the end of March totalled 355,000, just shy of the all-time high for March of 359,000.<\/p>\n Average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees in construction, covering most onsite craft workers as well as many office workers, jumped by 6.7 per cent over the year to $33.94 per hour.<\/p>\n Construction firms in April provided a wage premium of nearly 19 per cent compared to the average hourly earnings for all private-sector production employees.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n