US Construction Hiring Rate Falls to Record Low in May

The US construction sector's hiring rate fell by 0.3 percentage points in May to 3.5%, the lowest level since data collection started in 2000.

Since January, the rate has declined by 1.1 percentage points, extending a four-year downtrend. For context, the lows during the 2008 Financial Crisis and the 2020 pandemic were 4.5% and 3.7%, respectively.

In absolute terms, 295,000 new workers were hired in May, the third-lowest monthly total since the 2020 pandemic. Excluding 2020, that figure is the third-lowest in a decade.