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Construction: NAICS 23

About the Construction sector

The construction sector is part of the goods-producing industries supersector group.

The construction sector comprises establishments primarily engaged in the construction of buildings or engineering projects (e.g., highways and utility systems). Establishments primarily engaged in the preparation of sites for new construction and establishments primarily engaged in subdividing land for sale as building sites also are included in this sector.

Construction work done may include new work, additions, alterations, or maintenance and repairs. Activities of these establishments generally are managed at a fixed place of business, but they usually perform construction activities at multiple project sites. Production responsibilities for establishments in this sector are usually specified in (1) contracts with the owners of construction projects (prime contracts) or (2) contracts with other construction establishments (subcontracts).

North American Industry Classification System

The construction sector consists of these subsectors:

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in construction. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, job openings and labor turnover, union membership and representation, gross job gains and losses, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment, Unemployment, and Openings, Hires, and Separations

Data series Back
data
Feb.
2024
Mar.
2024
Apr.
2024
May
2024

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

8,170 (p)8,210 (p)8,219  

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)

5,972 (p)5,994 (p)6,001  

Unemployment

Unemployment rate

7.0% 5.4% 5.2% 3.9%

Job openings, hires, and separations (in thousands)

Job openings

434 338 (p)351  

Hires

346 402 (p)434  

Separations

324 297 (p)324  

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey)

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
2019 2020 2021 2022

Union membership and representation

Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

12.6% 12.7% 12.6% 11.7%

Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

13.6% 13.4% 13.6% 12.4%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Dynamic Changes in Employment

Data series Back
data
4th quarter
2022
1st quarter
2023
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023

Dynamic changes in employment (in thousands)

Gross job gains

667 706 666 607

Gross job losses

630 580 663 642

(Source: Business Employment Dynamics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2022

Carpenters

589,150

Construction laborers

847,050

Construction managers

243,980

Electricians

536,350

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators

266,170

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for construction.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours, as well as weekly earnings by union membership status, are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in construction. This section also contains information on the average cost of benefits paid by employers, as well as recent rates of change in wages and total compensation.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Data series Back
data
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024
Mar.
2024
Apr.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$37.60 $37.57 (p)$37.79 (p)$38.02

Average weekly hours

38.5 38.9 (p)39.3 (p)38.7

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024
Mar.
2024
Apr.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$35.30 $35.23 (p)$35.40 (p)$35.47

Average weekly hours

38.9 39.5 (p)40.0 (p)39.4

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2022
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Carpenters

$25.19 $28.40 $52,400 $59,070

Construction laborers

$20.66 $22.77 $42,970 $47,350

Construction managers

$48.31 $52.96 $100,480 $110,160

Electricians

$28.51 $31.14 $59,300 $64,760

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators

$27.69 $30.55 $57,600 $63,530

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Employee Benefits

This section presents data on the incidence (the percentage of workers with access to and participation in employer-provided benefit plans) and provisions of selected employee benefits from the National Compensation Survey. More Benefits estimates are also accessible from the Benefits database, the archived NCS publications page, and the complete Employee Benefits Excel dataset (XLSX).

Data series Access Participation
Back
data
2023 Back
data
2023

Private industry

Retirement benefit plans

67 50

Defined benefit plans

14 14

Defined contribution plans

60 42

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)

Data series After 1 year of service After 20 years of service
Back
data
2023 Back
data
2023

Mean number of vacation days for private industry workers without consolidated leave plans

7 13

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)

Data series Back
data
2023

Percent of private industry workers with access to employer-sponsored benefits

Health care

76

Paid vacation

81

Paid sick leave

68

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)

Employer Compensation Costs

Data series Back
data
4th quarter
2022
1st quarter
2023
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023

Private industry

12-month percent change

Total compensation

4.3% 4.9% 4.1% 4.1%

Wages and salaries

4.8% 5.7% 4.6% 4.5%

3-month percent change

Total compensation

0.8% 1.3% 1.2% 0.8%

Wages and salaries

1.1% 1.3% 1.3% 0.7%

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Data series Private industry
Compensation component
($ per hour worked)
Percent of total compensation
Back
data
3rd quarter 2023 Back
data
3rd quarter 2023

Total compensation

45.17 100.0

Wages and salaries

31.58 69.9

Total benefits

13.59 30.1

Insurance

3.36 7.4

Retirement

2.40 5.3

Paid leave

2.09 4.6

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
Median weekly earnings
2019 2020 2021 2022

Union membership and representation

Full-time workers

$909 $961 $966 $1,007

Members of unions

$1,257 $1,254 $1,344 $1,319

Represented by unions

$1,240 $1,234 $1,322 $1,306

Nonunion

$868 $920 $922 $976

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in construction. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.

Data series 2018 2019 2020 2021

Fatalities

Number of fatalities

1,038 1,102 1,034 1,015

Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

Data series 2020

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

Total recordable cases

2.5

Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer

1.6

Cases involving days away from work

1.1

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.5

Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments and the number of establishments experiencing job gains or job losses in construction.

Establishments

Data series Back
data
4th quarter
2022
1st quarter
2023
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023

Number of establishments

Private industry

916,550 (p)920,429 (p)930,755  

Local government

4,282 (p)4,276 (p)4,279  

State government

1,779 (p)1,806 (p)1,916  

Federal government

1 (p)1 (p)1  

Establishments with changes in employment (in thousands)

With job gains (seasonally adjusted)

206 214 197 187

With job losses (seasonally adjusted)

198 189 209 206

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Business Employment Dynamics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

This section presents productivity and related data for the industry, presented as the percent change from the previous year. Measures of total factor productivity (TFP) compare growth in output to the growth in a combination of inputs that include labor, capital, energy, materials, and services. Measures of labor productivity, or output per hour, compare the growth in output to the growth in hours worked.

Data series Back
data
2017 2018 2019 2020

Total factor productivity (TFP)

0.5 -1.1 -0.7 0.3

Output

1.4 0.4 1.1 1.4

Combined inputs

0.9 1.5 1.8 1.1

Capital input

1.8 1.7 4.1 3.8

Labor input

2.6 5.1 2.4 -5.8

Labor productivity, output per hour

-1.0 -4.3 -1.3 8.3

(Source: Productivity)

 

Data extracted on: July 23, 2024