construction industry still looking for workers

In one more sign of an ongoing strong labor market, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is reporting that there were more than 292,000 existing job openings in the construction industry as of the end of October.

That number is not only larger than the 233,000 openings recorded in October of 2017, it is also the largest such October figure recorded by the BLS since the agency launched its job openings survey in 2000.

What is officially called the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey also showed contractors nationally hiring more than 352,000 people during the month of October.

At the same time, according to the Associated General Contractors, the number of unemployed workers with any level of recent construction work experience was at its lowest level for any October in the last 18 years.

Overall, the number of job openings in all industries in October stood at 7.1 million, with  openings surpassing the number of unemployed workers by more than 1 million.

By Garry Boulard

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