The Daily Dig
Construction job openings reached 259,000 at the end of April, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey data. That is a gain of 25,000 from the prior month and 52,000 higher than April of last year.
Fewer construction workers were laid off in April than in any month since the first half of 2022. At the same time, contractors are increasingly struggling to fill open positions, a combination that points to a labor market where demand is running ahead of available supply.
ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu cited immigration policy and the resulting contraction in the undocumented worker pool as one driver, alongside acute shortages in certain trades. He singled out data center construction as a sector where those shortages are particularly sharp. Despite broad contractor optimism about adding headcount over the next six months, per ABC's Construction Confidence Index, Basu was direct that labor availability is unlikely to improve in the near term.
Snapshot:
Report: ABC Analysis of BLS JOLTS Data
Released: June 2, 2025
Data Period: April 2025
Job Openings: 259,000
Month-Over-Month Change: +25,000
Year-Over-Year Change: +52,000 (up more than 25%, per ABC)
Layoffs: Lowest since first half of 2022
Contributing Factors: Immigration policy and undocumented worker pool contraction; acute shortages in certain trades
Sector Highlighted: Data center construction
6-Month Outlook: Contractors broadly optimistic on staffing levels
Near-Term Labor Availability: Not expected to improve
Source: Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of BLS JOLTS data; Anirban Basu, ABC Chief Economist
TheJobWalk Thoughts
The shortage Basu flagged in data center construction is worth paying attention to beyond that sector. When a specific build type drives acute trade shortages, those same workers get pulled from other project types competing for the same labor pool. GCs and subs across multiple sectors feel that pressure whether they are building data centers or not.
The more telling detail in this report is the gap between contractor optimism and labor reality. Contractors broadly expect to grow headcount over the next six months, but Basu is clear that availability is not going to improve in the near term. That disconnect has direct consequences for project schedules, subcontractor sequencing, and bid pricing. Teams that plan around the labor market they want rather than the one that actually exists are going to have a difficult second half of the year.
Courtesy of ABC
Courtesy of ABC
