The construction unemployment rate rose to 3.9% in August, a significant jump from July’s near record low of 3.5%, providing evidence that the sector’s overheated jobs market is beginning to cool without cratering. With wages expanding 5.2% in all industries over the last year, and 5.3% in construction, it’s an indication that a combination of inflation and rising pay rates have induced workers back to their jobs, after the exodus of the Great Resignation. While year-over-year construction wage gains are still historically high, they only jumped by 5 cents in August from the month before, less than a tenth of a percent, to $34.82 per hour on average. That also could signal more measured times ahead for contractors, who have been dealing with the double hit of rising wages and costs on materials.
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