The U.S. labor market added more jobs than expected in October, but construction employment declined slightly as continued hiring in nonresidential construction was offset by losses in the residential sector.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) October employment report, released Nov. 6, the economy added 165,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1%. Construction employment declined by 3,000 jobs, although the industry remains ahead of its year-earlier employment level.
Nonresidential Construction Continues to Add Jobs
The construction industry employed approximately 8.37 million workers in October, an increase of 124,000 jobs, or 1.5%, compared with October 2025.
The relatively small monthly decline masks a significant difference between residential and nonresidential construction. According to BLS industry employment data, nonresidential construction added 13,300 jobs in October, with gains across all three major categories.
Nonresidential specialty trade contractors led the increases, adding 7,900 positions. Nonresidential building construction added 2,900 jobs, while heavy and civil engineering construction gained 2,500.
Residential construction moved in the opposite direction, losing approximately 16,400 jobs, including 15,200 among residential specialty trade contractors.
The divergence extends beyond October. An analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) found that nonresidential construction employment increased by 164,600 jobs, or 3.3%, over the past year, while residential employment declined by 40,200 positions.
Construction wages also continued rising. Average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory construction employees reached $39.70 in October, up 5.2% from a year earlier. That wage growth exceeded the 3.3% annual increase for comparable workers across the private sector, underscoring continued competition for construction labor.
National Hiring Exceeds Expectations
October’s national employment gain of 165,000 jobs substantially exceeded the approximately 65,000 jobs economists surveyed by Reuters had anticipated. It was also well above the average monthly gain of 48,000 jobs recorded over the preceding 12 months.
Professional and business services led job growth with 70,000 new positions, followed by health care with 42,000 and transportation and warehousing with 25,000.
Manufacturing, another sector closely connected to construction activity and industrial development, added 19,000 jobs. Gains included computer and electronic product manufacturing, machinery manufacturing and primary metal manufacturing.
The BLS report also revised employment figures for the previous two months upward by a combined 84,000 jobs. August’s gain increased from 133,000 to 186,000, while September’s was revised from 29,000 to 60,000.
Despite the stronger hiring figures, some indicators suggested continued unevenness in the labor market. The number of people working part time for economic reasons increased by 339,000 to 4.8 million, reflecting workers who would prefer full-time employment but could not obtain it or had their hours reduced.
What the Numbers Mean for Design-Build Teams
October’s construction figures illustrate why industry-wide employment totals do not always capture the conditions affecting individual project types.
While residential employment continued to contract, hiring gains across nonresidential buildings, specialty trades and heavy and civil engineering suggest sustained labor demand in sectors particularly relevant to public and institutional Owners, infrastructure agencies and design-build teams.
At the same time, rising construction wages and differences in workforce availability can complicate project budgeting, procurement and scheduling.
For Owners and project teams, these conditions reinforce the importance of early workforce planning, realistic schedules and coordination among designers, builders and trade partners. Identifying labor requirements and potential constraints during project development can help teams make more informed decisions about sequencing, procurement and delivery.
The October report offers an encouraging picture of overall employment growth, but the construction industry’s divided performance serves as a reminder that workforce conditions remain highly dependent on the type of work being delivered.
