Residential construction employment continued to soften in recent months, reflecting elevated interest rates, ongoing affordability challenges, and slower home building activity. Over the last 12 months, residential construction employment has
The U.S. labor market lost momentum in June, with total nonfarm payroll employment rising by just 57,000, the smallest gain since February’s outright decline. Downward revisions to April and May
Despite rising inflation and ongoing economic uncertainty, the U.S. labor market remained resilient in May. Nonfarm payrolls increased for the third consecutive month, and the unemployment rate held steady at
The U.S. labor market continued to show resilience in April, with job growth persisting despite elevated interest rates and rising geopolitical uncertainty related to the Iran conflict. The unemployment rate
The long-running shift in the construction labor force away from construction trades and toward management, business, and technical roles is ongoing and gaining momentum, according to NAHB’s analysis of the
The U.S. labor market showed signs of a modest rebound in March following a weak February, as payroll employment increased and the unemployment rate edged down to 4.3%. Job growth
The U.S. labor market weakened in February, as payroll employment declined and the unemployment rate rose to 4.4%. The cooling labor market could place the Federal Reserve in a challenging
The U.S. labor market began 2026 at a surprisingly strong pace, while newly released benchmark revisions show that job growth in 2025 was considerably weaker than previously reported. Nonfarm payrolls
Job growth continued to slow at the end of the year, reinforcing signs of a cooling labor market. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 50,000 jobs in December, while the unemployment rate
In November 2025, employment levels were largely unchanged across all states, with year-over-year growth holding near 2%. In contrast, construction employment showed greater variation, with some states experiencing declines of
In September 2025, nonfarm payroll employment was largely unchanged across states on a monthly basis, with a limited number of states seeing statistically significant increases or decreases. This reflects generally
In November, job growth slowed, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, its highest level in four years. At the same time, job gains for the previous two months (August
The long-delayed September jobs report revealed that the U.S. economy added 119,000 jobs while the unemployment rate climbed to its highest level in nearly four years. Combined with downward revisions
In April 2020, total payroll employment in the United States fell by an unprecedented 20.5 million, following a loss of 1.4 million in March, as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the
As the nation’s housing stock continues to age and new homes remain out of reach for many buyers, remodeling is capturing a growing share of the residential construction market, both
Between February 2020 and June 2022, the U.S. labor market experienced the deepest downturn on record followed by the fastest recovery in at least a century. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted
In August, the official, or standardly referenced, unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.3%, up from 4.2% in July. This marks the highest level in nearly four years, though it remains
The latest government state employment report paints a mixed picture of the job market. While a few states saw modest employment gains, most areas showed little to no progress. The