Construction openings inched up in June 2016 to a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.0%, after three consecutive months of decline, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Tuesday morning.
June’s numbers are an 20-basis-point increase from the upwardly revised rate of 2.8% reported in May, and 25% higher than levels seen a year prior. Construction openings are slightly below the nine-year high of 3.1% in March 2016, but are close to levels last seen in February 2007.
The rate of total separations–including quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations–closed the month at a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.5%, down 60-basis-points from the upwardly-revised rate of 5.1% in May, and 20-basis-points down from June 2015. Total separations exceeded the amount of hires for the second consecutive month in June, indicating that employment in the industry is continuing to shrink, despite the fact that the rate of total separations decreased month-over-month. In June, 298,000 jobs were shed in construction, and 282,000 were added.
Read the full release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics here >>
