All But Four States Had Construction Unemployment Rates Below 10% in March
The national March 2025 not seasonally adjusted construction unemployment rate was 5.4%, unchanged from March 2024, according to a state-by-state analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released on April 30 by Associated Builders and Contractors. The analysis found that 19 states had lower estimated construction unemployment rates over the same period, 25 had higher rates and six states had the same rates. All states except for Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey and Rhode Island had construction unemployment rates below 10%.
National NSA payroll construction employment was 140,000 higher than March 2024. As of March 2025, SA payroll construction employment was 703,000, or 9.2%, above its pre-pandemic peak of 7.6 million.
Estimated state construction unemployment rates were lower than their pre-pandemic level in much of the country. As of March 2025, 30 states had lower construction unemployment rates compared to March 2019 and 17 states had higher rates, while Alabama, Florida and Minnesota had the same rate.
“Although March state construction unemployment rates show a relatively healthy level of construction employment, rising uncertainty about the business climate over the remainder of this year and 2026 is weighing on contractor and developer plans,” said Bernard Markstein, president and chief economist of Markstein Advisors, who conducted the analysis for ABC. “Confusion surrounding tariffs and their impact on building materials prices has increased the level of uncertainty. This is on top of continued elevated interest rates and higher labor costs. These concerns are stoking fears of a major economic slowdown and the possibility of a recession. For now, most of the construction industry is slowing or temporarily halting hiring workers as they seek greater clarity as to where the economy is headed.”
Recent Month-to-Month Fluctuations
In March, the national NSA construction unemployment rate dropped 1.8% from February as the weather improved in much of the country. All but two states (Louisiana and Mississippi) had lower estimated construction unemployment rates than in February.
The Top States
The five states with the lowest estimated NSA construction unemployment rates for March were:
- South Dakota, 1.9%
- Oklahoma, 2.3%
- New Hampshire, 2.8%
- West Virginia, 3.1%
- Florida, 3.2%
South Dakota, Oklahoma and West Virginia all notched their lowest March NSA estimated construction unemployment rate on record. New Hampshire had its second-lowest March rate on record. Florida had its third-lowest March unemployment rate on record, behind its March rates in 2023 and 2024 (2.7% and 2.8%, respectively).
The Bottom States
The five states with the highest March estimated NSA construction unemployment rates were:
- Minnesota, 9.8%
- Connecticut, 10.0%
- Maine, 10.2%
- New Jersey, 12.2%
- Rhode Island, 16.0%
Rhode Island, Connecticut and Minnesota had the second, third and fourth largest reduction in their monthly NSA estimated construction unemployment rates, respectively, among the states, behind Montana.
Click here to view graphs of U.S. and state overall unemployment rates (Tab 1) and construction unemployment rates (Tab 2) showing the impact of the pandemic, including a graphing tool that creates a chart for multiple states. To better understand the basis for calculating unemployment rates and what they measure, check out the Background on State Construction Unemployment Rates.
Nonresidential Construction Added Jobs in April Despite Headwinds
The construction industry added 11,000 jobs in April, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has grown by 143,000 jobs, an increase of 1.7%.
Nonresidential construction employment increased by 8,000 positions on net, with growth in 2 of the 3 subcategories. Nonresidential specialty trade added the most jobs, increasing by 4,900 positions, while nonresidential building added 3,600 jobs. Heavy and civil engineering lost 500 positions for the month.
The construction unemployment rate rose to 5.6%, while unemployment across all industries remained unchanged at 4.2% in April.
“The construction industry added a perfectly acceptable 11,000 jobs in April,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Despite weak construction spending data for March and several economic headwinds, including high interest rates, tight lending standards and trade policy uncertainty, backlog remains sufficiently elevated to keep industry employment growing for the time being.
“That said, April is likely the last month of economic data largely unaffected by tariffs and tariff-related uncertainty,” said Basu. “The reference period for today’s jobs report is the pay period through April 12, which may exclude staffing decisions, or project cancelations or delays, related to recent trade policy developments. While the economic outlook has worsened in recent weeks, it remains unclear how the economy will respond in the coming months. For now, contractors remain broadly optimistic, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, and industrywide staffing levels continue to expand.”
