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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
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

8,102 8,120 (p)8,139 (p)8,162

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)

5,941 5,946 (p)5,962 (p)5,964

Unemployment

Unemployment rate

4.8% 4.4% 6.9% 7.0%

Job openings, hires, and separations (in thousands)

Job openings

405 384 (p)407  

Hires

279 215 (p)352  

Separations

353 374 (p)402  

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

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

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
2020 2021 2022 2023

Union membership and representation

Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

12.7% 12.6% 11.7% 10.7%

Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

13.4% 13.6% 12.4% 11.4%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Dynamic Changes in Employment

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

Dynamic changes in employment (in thousands)

Gross job gains

655 667 706 666

Gross job losses

626 630 580 663

(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
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$37.21 $37.31 (p)$37.56 (p)$37.53

Average weekly hours

39.3 39.0 (p)38.5 (p)38.9

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$34.96 $34.98 (p)$35.25 (p)$35.21

Average weekly hours

40.2 39.8 (p)38.9 (p)39.6

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
1st quarter
2023
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023
4th quarter
2023

Private industry

12-month percent change

Total compensation

4.9% 4.1% 4.1% 4.2%

Wages and salaries

5.7% 4.6% 4.5% 4.5%

3-month percent change

Total compensation

1.3% 1.2% 0.8% 0.9%

Wages and salaries

1.3% 1.3% 0.7% 1.1%

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Data series Private industry
Compensation component
($ per hour worked)
Percent of total compensation
Back
data
4th quarter 2023 Back
data
4th quarter 2023

Total compensation

46.50 100.0

Wages and salaries

32.66 70.2

Total benefits

13.84 29.8

Insurance

3.38 7.3

Retirement

2.25 4.8

Paid leave

2.22 4.8

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
Median weekly earnings
2020 2021 2022 2023

Union membership and representation

Full-time workers

$961 $966 $1,007 $1,044

Members of unions

$1,254 $1,344 $1,319 $1,424

Represented by unions

$1,234 $1,322 $1,306 $1,411

Nonunion

$920 $922 $976 $1,007

(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 2019 2020 2021 2022

Fatalities

Number of fatalities

1,102 1,034 1,015 1,092

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

Data series 2022

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

Total recordable cases

2.4

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

1.5

Cases involving days away from work

1.0

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)919,897 (p)928,667 (p)937,473

Local government

4,282 (p)4,273 (p)4,275 (p)4,278

State government

1,779 (p)1,805 (p)1,811 (p)1,836

Federal government

1 (p)1 (p)1 (p)1

Establishments with changes in employment (in thousands)

With job gains (seasonally adjusted)

206 214 197  

With job losses (seasonally adjusted)

198 189 209  

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

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

 

Data extracted on: March 15, 2024