Construction employment report: Exclusive mid-year jobs data
Our team has been keeping a close eye on the latest construction jobs data to get a clearer view of the current hiring market. To help your business build success in the second half of 2024, we’re sharing crucial data and insights that can help guide your hiring strategy and drive long-term growth.
Explore our 2024 mid-year report featuring exclusive construction employment data that you won’t find anywhere else, plus jobs to watch during the rest of 2024.
Construction jobs overview for the first half of 2024
- Total employment as of June 2024: 8.25 million (8.01 million in June 2023)
- Jobs added to date in 2024 (based on payroll numbers): 125,000 (199,000 in all of 2023)
- Unemployment rate as of June 2024: 3.3% (3.6% in June 2023)
- Unique job postings in 2024 to date: 433,000 (322,000 in first half of 2023)
- Average hourly wage as of June 2024: $38.15 ⇧ 2.3% YoY
States with the most construction employment
- California: 924,099
- Texas: 834,694
- Florida: 635,433
- North Carolina: 395,933
- Pennsylvania: 262,364
- North Carolina: 261,913
- Ohio: 240,062
- Illinois: 236,094
- Washington: 228,089
- Georgia: 221,727
Top states posting construction jobs
- Texas: 45,042 unique job postings
- California: 40,308
- Florida: 35,336
- North Carolina: 16,646
- Colorado: 15,626
- Ohio: 15,481
- Virginia: 15,430
- Arizona: 14,757
- New York: 13,241
- Georgia: 13,149
Top cities posting construction jobs
- Houston, TX: 3,371 unique job postings
- Phoenix, AZ: 2,829
- New York, NY: 2,570
- Denver, CO: 2,520
- Dallas, TX: 2,305
- Jacksonville, FL: 2,253
- San Antonio, TX: 2,217
- Los Angeles, CA: 2,193
- Tampa, FL: 2,193
- San Diego, CA: 1,863
Experience level required for jobs in construction
- No experience listed: 62% of unique job postings
- 0 – 1 years: 10%
- 2 – 3 years: 16%
- 4 – 6 years: 10%
- 7 – 9 years: 1%
- 10+ years: 1%
Top qualifications sought by construction companies hiring
- Valid Driver’s License: 89,921 job postings
- Commercial Driver’s License (CDL): 10,622
- 10-Hour OSHA General Industry Card: 8,431
- CDL Class A License: 6,090
- 30-Hour OSHA General Industry Card: 4,322
- CDL Class B License: 2,931
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Certification: 2,647
- First Aid Certification: 2,393
- Journeyman Electrician: 2,212
- Tanker Endorsement: 1,891
Construction jobs to watch during the rest of 2024
As we consider the 2024 hiring market, we expect growing demand for various construction jobs. Our construction jobs data for 2024 to date highlights a significant need for skilled professionals, especially in roles such as carpenters and sheet metal workers.
Carpenter jobs
- Unique job postings: 24,712 (⇧ 39.4% from same time period in 2023)
- Average monthly hires: 47,453
- Median hourly wage as advertised: $25.54 (⇧ 6.0% from same time period in 2023)
Sheet metal worker jobs
- Unique job postings: 2,095 (⇧ 3.5%)
- Average monthly hires: 6,971
- Median hourly wage as advertised: $25.54 (⇧ 6.0%)
Pipefitter & plumber jobs
- Unique job postings: 25,330 (⇧ 2.2%)
- Average monthly hires: 23,990
- Median hourly wage as advertised: $29.97 (no change)
Electrician jobs
- Unique job postings: 35,412 (⇩ 13.1%)
- Average monthly hires: 42,640
- Median hourly wage as advertised: $31.20 (⇧ 4.0%)
Welder jobs
- Unique job postings: 15,953 (⇩ 26.2%)
- Average monthly hires: 23,765
- Median hourly wage as advertised: $23.45 (⇧ 4.9%)
In addition to the evident demand for tradespeople, there will also be a need for construction laborers as well as supervisors and project managers for construction to oversee and coordinate various aspects of construction projects.
First-line supervisors of construction trades jobs
- Unique job postings: 31,388 (⇧ 7.8%)
- Average monthly hires: 47,766
- Median hourly wage as advertised: $32.68 (⇧ 8.7%)
Construction laborer jobs
- Unique job postings: 54,242 (⇩ 9.2%)
- Average monthly hires: 79,394
- Median hourly wage as advertised: $19.51 (⇧ 5.2%)
PeopleReady Skilled Trades serves your construction staffing needs
The construction hiring market is always changing, and we will continue to share construction jobs data and trends and how they might impact your construction staffing plans.
PeopleReady Skilled Trades can connect you with skilled tradespeople such as electricians, carpenters, welders, plumbers and more. Combining our established presence in over 50 communities across the U.S. and our experience recruiting for projects across all sectors of the construction industry, we are ready to meet your workforce needs.
Source:
- Lightcast, July 3, 2024
