Data from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) indicate that US construction job openings increased in July, after a declines off a cycle high count for April, said the National Association of Home Builders Eye on Housing Tuesday.
The estimated number of US job openings in the construction sector increased to 373,000 in July after reaching a post-Great Recession high of 434,000 in April. The July 2019 count of unfilled jobs represents a year-over-year gain relative to the 314,000 estimated unfilled construction jobs in July 2018.
The open position rate (job openings as a percentage of total employment plus current job openings) increased to 4.7% in July, after reaching a cycle high of 5.5% in April. On a smoothed, twelve-month moving average basis, the open position rate for the construction sector held steady at 4.2%. The peak (smoothed) rate during the building boom prior to the recession was just below 2.7%. For the current cycle, the sector has been above that rate since October 2016.