Construction Industry Round Table (CIRT)

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in construction. The data is obtained from analysis of the monthly reports compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.

2024 Construction Employment / Unemployment vs. Overall Unemployment Stats

	Jan24	Feb24	Mar24	Apr24	May24	Jun24
Construction Unemployment	699k	711k	570k	555K	406K	345K

Percentage	6.9%	7.0%	5.4%	5.2%	3.9%	3.3%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	3.7%	3.9%	3.8%	3.9%	4.0%	4.1%

Participation Rate	62.5%	62.5%	62.7%	62.7%	62.5%	62.6%
	Jul24	Aug24	Sep24	Oct24	Nov24	Dec24
Construction Unemployment	420K	338K	403k	456k

Percentage	3.9%	3.2%	3.7%	4.2%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	4.3%	4.2%	4.1%	4.1%

Participation Rate	62.7%	62.7%	62.7%	62.6%

2022 Construction Employment / Unemployment vs. Overall Unemployment Stats

	Jan22	Feb22	Mar22	Apr22	May22	Jun22
Construction Unemployment	709k	677k	598K	464K	392K	385K

Percentage	7.1%	6.7%	6.0%	4.6%	3.8%	3.7%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	4.0%	3.8%	3.6%	3.6%	3.6%	3.6%

Participation Rate	62.2%	62.2%	62.4%	62.2%	62.3%	62.2%
	Jul22	Aug22	Sep22	Oct22	Nov22	Dec22
Construction Unemployment	359k	401k	409k	377k	393k	433k

Percentage	3.5%	3.9%	3.4%	4.1%	3.9%	4.4%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	3.5%	3.7%	3.5%	3.7%	3.7%	3.5%

Participation Rate	62.1%	62.4%	62.3%	62.2%	62.1%	62.3%

2021 Construction Employment/Unemployment vs. Overall Unemployment Statistics

	Jan21	Feb21	Mar21	Apr21	May21	Jun21
Construction Unemployment	938k	921k	835K	768k	642k	730k

Percentage	9.4%	9.6%	8.6%	7.7%	6.7%	7.5%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	6.3%	6.2%	6.0%	6.1%	5.8%	5.9%

Participation Rate	61.4%	61.4%	61.5%	61.7%	61.6%	61.6%
	Jul21	Aug21	Sep21	Oct21	Nov21	Dec21
Construction Unemployment	592k	488k	444k	469k	469k	497k

Percentage	6.1%	4.6%	4.5%	4.0%	4.7%	5.0%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	5.4%	5.2%	4.8%	4.2%	4.2%	3.9%

Participation Rate	61.7%	61.7%	61.6%	61.8%	61.8%	61.9%

2020 Construction Employment/Unemployment vs. Overall Unemployment Statistics

	Jan20	Feb20	Mar20	Apr20	May20	Jun20
Construction Unemployment	515k	531k	658k	1,531k	1,187k	962k

Percentage	5.4%	5.5%	6.9%	16.6%	12.7%	10.1%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	3.6%	3.5%	4.4%	14.7%	13.3%	11.1%

Participation Rate	63.2%	63.4%	62.7%	60.2%	60.8%	61.5%
	Jul20	Aug20	Sep20	Oct20	Nov20	Dec20
Construction Unemployment	870k	762k	700k	674k	732k	930K

Percentage	8.9%	7.6%	7.1%	6.8%	7.3%	9.6%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	10.2%	8.4%	7.9%	6.9%	6.7%	6.7%

Participation Rate	61.4%	61.7%	61.4%	61.7%	61.5%	61.5%

2019 Construction Employment/Unemployment vs. Overall Unemployment Statistics

	Jan19	Feb19	Mar19	Apr19	May19	Jun19
Construction Unemployment	638k	588k	490k	439k	294k	390k

Percentage	6.4%	6.2%	5.2%	4.7%	3.2%	4.0%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	4.0%	3.8%	3.8%	3.6%	3.6%	3.7%

Participation Rate	63.2%	63.2%	63.0%	62.8%	62.8%	62.9%
	Jul19	Aug19	Sep19	Oct19	Nov19	Dec19
Construction Unemployment	386k	361k	319k	398K	428K	489K

Percentage	3.8%	3.6%	3.2%	4.0%	4.4%	5.0%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	3.7%	3.7%	3.5%	3.6%	3.5%	3.5%

Participation Rate	63.0%	63.2%	63.2%	63.6%	63.2%	63.2%

2018 Construction Employment/Unemployment vs. Overall Unemployment Statistics

	Jan18	Feb18	Mar18	Apr18	May18	Jun18
Construction Unemployment	707	732	696	623	415	466

Percentage	7.3%	7.8%	7.4%	6.5%	4.4%	4.7%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	4.1%	4.1%	4.1%	3.9%	3.8%	4.0%

Participation Rate	62.7%	63.0%	62.9%	62.8%	62.7%	62.9%
	Jul18	Aug18	Sep18	Oct18	Nov18	Dec18
Construction Unemployment	333	328	412	352	375	493

Percentage	3.4%	3.4%	4.1%	3.6%	3.9%	5.1%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	3.9%	3.9%	3.9%	3.7%	3.7%	3.9%

Participation Rate	62.9%	62.7%	62.7%	62.9%	62.9%	63.1%

2017 Construction Employment/Unemployment vs. Overall Unemployment Statistics

	Jan ‘17	Feb ‘17	Mar ‘17	Apr ‘17	May ‘17	Jun ‘17
Construction Unemployment	859	781	764	585	502	430

Percentage	9.4%	8.8%	8.4%	6.3%	5.3%	4.5%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	4.8%	4.7%	4.5%	4.4%	4.3%	4.4%

Participation Rate	62.9%	63.0%	63.0%	62.9%	62.7%	62.8%
	Jul ‘17	Aug ‘17	Sep ‘17	Oct ‘17	Nov ‘17	Dec ‘17
Construction Unemployment	469	448	448	418	467	554

Percentage	4.9%	4.7%	4.7%	4.5%	5.0%	5.9%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	4.3%	4.4%	4.2%	4.1%	4.1%	4.1%

Participation Rate	62.9%	62.9%	63.1%	62.7%	62.7%	62.7%

Data Source: Table A-14, BLS, (figures are in 000s)

2016 Construction Employment/Unemployment vs. Overall Unemployment Statistics

	Jan ‘16	Feb ‘16	Mar ‘16	Apr ‘16	May ‘16	Jun ‘16
Construction Unemployment	729	749	768	530	461	417

Percentage	8.5%	8.7%	8.7%	6.0%	5.2%	4.6%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	4.9%	4.9%	5.0%	5.0%	4.7%	4.9%

Participation Rate	62.7%	62.9%	63.0%	62.8%	62.6%	62.7%
	Jul ‘16	Aug ‘16	Sep ‘16	Oct ‘16	Nov ‘16	Dec ‘16
Construction Unemployment	410	454	474	512	517	670

Percentage	4.5%	5.1%	5.2%	5.7%	5.7%	7.4%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	4.9%	4.9%	5.0%	4.9%	4.6%	4.7%

Participation Rate	62.8%	62.8%	62.9%	62.8%	62.8%	62.7%

Data Source: Table A-14, BLS, (figures are in 000s)

2015 Construction Employment/Unemployment vs. Overall Unemployment Statistics

	Jan ‘15	Feb ‘15	Mar ‘15	Apr ‘15	May ‘15	Jun ‘15
Construction Unemployment	511	906	831	652	569	522

Percentage	9.8%	10.6%	9.5%	7.5%	6.7%	6.3%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	5.7%	5.5%	5.5%	5.4%	5.5%	5.3%

Participation Rate	62.9%	62.8%	62.7%	62.8%	62.9%	62.6%
	Jul ‘15	Aug ‘15	Sep ‘15	Oct ‘15	Nov ‘15	Dec ‘15
Construction Unemployment	474	474	479	534	536	645

Percentage	5.5%	6.1%	5.5%	6.2%	6.2%	7.5%

Overall Unemployment by Percentage	5.3%	5.1%	5.1%	5.0%	5.0%	5.0%

Participation Rate	62.6%	62.6%	62.4%	62.4%	62.5%	62.6%

Data Source: Table A-14, BLS, (figures are in 000s)