The construction unemployment rate declined from 3.8% in May 2023 to 3.5% in May 2023, the second lowest return for the month since records began in 2000.

The construction industry will need to attract an estimated 546,000 additional workers over 2023 to meet the demand for labor. As the demand for construction services remains high, filling these roles with skilled craft professionals is vital to America’s economy and infrastructure rebuilding initiatives. Next year, the industry will need to bring in more than 342,000 new workers on top of normal hiring to meet industry demand.

While single-family home building activity has moderated, many contractors continue to experience substantial demand from a growing number of mega-projects associated with semiconductor manufacturing plants, clean energy facilities and infrastructure upgrades. Second, too few younger workers are entering the skilled trades, meaning this is not the number of skilled workers has grown at a much slower pace or, in only a construction labor shortage but also a skills shortage, especially with nearly one in four construction workers older than 55. Meanwhile, the case of certain trades like carpenters, declined.