Graphic by ENR Art Dept. Specialty trade contractors again led the construction industry’s hiring in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall U.S. hiring bounced back from a not-so-hot July to add an estimated 162,000 jobs during August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest monthly jobs report. Construction was again among the industries adding jobs, with BLS estimating contractors hired approximately 22,000 new workers during the past month. More than half of construction’s jobs gain came from specialty trade contractors, who added 11,200 positions during the past month. Specialty contractors focused on nonresidential work added an estimated 7,800 jobs during August, while residential specialty trade contractors boosted employment by 3,400 positions.
Overall, building contractors added 5,500 new hires to their payrolls in August. This sector’s hiring was up and down, though, with residential building contractors adding an estimated 7,300 workers, while companies focused on nonresidential construction shed an estimated 1,800 jobs. Heavy and civil engineering construction contractors added approximately 4,400 jobs during the month, according to BLS.
“The construction industry added jobs for the sixth straight month in August and, on a year-over-year basis, is growing its employment base at the fastest pace since February 2025,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu, in a press release. “That growth has occurred despite a shrinking homebuilding segment. “Hiring remains highly concentrated in the nonresidential specialty trade contractor category, a byproduct of the rapid and ongoing increase in data center-related construction activity,” Basu added. “Given the lengthy backlog levels of contractors with data center work … the artificial intelligence buildout will continue to support construction employment growth during the next several months.”
Ken Simonson, chief economist with Associated General Contractors of America, similarly noted in a press release that “the boom in data center construction, along with advanced manufacturing and power projects, is supporting a strong upturn in industry employment and wages despite weakness in homebuilding and other project types.”
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At the same time, though, Simonson added that “our latest workforce survey finds all types of contractors are struggling to fill open positions, even as pay for craft workers is rising faster than in other sectors.”
“Contractors are paying more to attract workers, but higher wages alone cannot solve the industry’s workforce challenges,” added Jeffrey D.
Shoaf, CEO of AGC of America. “Officials need to invest in construction education and training, pursue sensible immigration reforms and support the infrastructure and development projects that are creating high-paying construction careers.”
Scott Judy is ENR’s Managing Editor. His roughly 34 years as a construction journalist began with an 11-year stint visiting and writing about construction projects in the Midwest region of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. Then, in 2000, Judy helped launch ENR Southeast, now known as ENR Texas & Southeast. After all these years, Judy says his favorite part of being an ENR editor is visiting job sites and learning how—and reporting on—a team’s approach to overcoming the project’s design and construction challenges. And Judy says he never turns down an invitation for a project visit.
