The construction industry added 13,000 jobs on net in March, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has risen by a mere 143,000 jobs, an increase of 1.8%.
Nonresidential construction employment increased by 22,300 positions on net in March, with growth in 2 of the 3 sub-segments. Nonresidential specialty trade added the most jobs, with a monthly increase of 19,300 positions, while heavy and civil engineering added 3,400 jobs. The nonresidential building sub-segment lost 400 positions.
The construction unemployment rate decreased to 5.4% in March and is unchanged from one year ago. Unemployment across all industries rose from 4.1% in February to 4.2% last month.
“At first glance, this is a perfectly fine jobs report for the construction industry,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The details, however, give cause for concern. With downward revisions to the January and February numbers, the industry added just 8,000 jobs per month during the first quarter of 2025. Construction employment is up just 1.8% since March 2024, the slowest year-over-year growth in four years.
“March’s labor market data is a lesser concern in light of the sweeping tariffs announced on April 2,” said Basu. “What amounts to the largest tax hike since 1968 will reduce construction activity due to rising input costs, shaken business confidence and potentially higher-for-longer interest rates. While contractors were sanguine about the outlook as of last month, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, industry expectations are likely to worsen in the coming months.”
2025 Top Glass Fabricators Report
A softening market and higher costs threaten sales for leading fabricators
Top Glass Fabricators, and likely glass fabricators more broadly, are facing challenging times. Only 32% of reporting companies this year said they experienced higher sales in 2024, compared to 70% the previous year, a milestone in what has been a downward slope in year-over-year gains since 2022.
The number of reporting companies included in the Top Glass Fabricators report is not static and shifts from year to year. Even so, this statistic seems significant, especially given other pain points shared by fabricators.
The market insights for this report are compiled from survey responses completed by Top Glass Fabricators.
Top Glass Fabricators Report
You can view the whole report or jump to these sections:
- The List | Industry ranking of leading fabricators who supply the North American market
- Sales and Challenges | Regional market growth, company sales and industry challenges
- Products | Fabricator product and design trends
- Investments | Manufacturing innovation and capital investment
Visit the World of Glass and download the Fabricator Database
For more information about the North American fabrication market, visit our updated fabricator map with newly-added recycled glass locations. The map’s database was updated in March 2025 and is available in the National Glass Association store. Free to NGA members.
Business conditions remained soft at architecture firms in February.
Architecture firm billings continue to decline. February marked the first time since 2020 that inquiries into new projects have declined, and the value of new design contracts has decreased for 12 months. This indicates ongoing uncertainty and hesitation among clients.
Prices for Nonresidential Construction Materials and Services Increase for Third-Straight Month in March, Even Before Most Tariffs Kick In
The price of materials and services used in nonresidential construction rose 0.4 percent in March, the third monthly increase in a row, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government data released today. Association officials noted that the flurry of tariff-related announcements in recent weeks has been contributing to a series of announced price hikes from a range of materials suppliers.
“Lumber and metals prices shot up in March, while contractors’ inboxes are bulging with ‘Dear Valued Customer’ letters announcing further increases for many products,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Rapid-fire changes in tariffs threaten to drive prices higher for many essential construction goods.”
The producer price index for inputs to new nonresidential construction—a weighted average of all materials and certain services used in new construction—rose by 0.4 percent in March, following increases of 0.6 percent in February and 0.8 percent in January. That was the first time since September 2023 that input prices had risen for three consecutive months, and it followed more than a year of stable or falling prices, Simonson said.
Metals and lumber prices were the major contributors to the increase in March. The index for steel mill products soared 7.1 percent in March. Aluminum mill shapes jumped 5.1 percent in price for the month and the index for lumber and plywood rose 2.7 percent.
Prices used to calculate the indexes were collected around March 11, Simonson noted. Since then, the administration has imposed new tariffs of 25 percent on steel and aluminum imports, 25 percent on many goods from Mexico and Canada, 145 percent on imports from China, and 10 percent on most other countries. Additional tariffs on copper and lumber are under review and much higher tariffs on many countries were imposed on April 9 but then suspended for 90 days.
Association officials noted that new and planned tariffs will not only increase costs for many construction materials, but are likely to lead to higher costs for many private and public sector construction projects. They urged the Trump administration to consider delaying imposing new tariffs until there was greater market certainty about the impacts of those that have already been put in place.
“Our members are trying to deliver the best value for the public and private sector clients they serve,” said Jeffrey Shoaf, the chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America. “But it is hard to deliver that best value when you have no idea how much you are going to have to pay for many of the materials required to build projects.”
View producer price index data.
Dodge Momentum Index Declines 7% in March
The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI), issued by Dodge Construction Network, receded 6.9% in March to 205.6 (2000=100) from the revised February reading of 220.9. Over the month, commercial planning declined 7.8% while institutional planning fell 5.0%.
“Increased uncertainty around material prices and fiscal policies may have begun to factor into planning decisions throughout March,” stated Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting at Dodge Construction Network. “While planning data has weakened across most nonresidential sectors this month, activity remains considerably higher than year-ago levels and still suggests steady construction activity in mid-2026.”
On the commercial side, weaker planning activity for warehouses, data centers and retail stores drove this month’s decline. Meanwhile, hotel and office planning continued to accelerate. On the institutional side, planning activity slowed for education, healthcare and government buildings. In March, the DMI was up 30% when compared to year-ago levels. The commercial segment was up 32% from March 2024. The institutional segment was up 27% over the same period, following a very weak March last year. The influence of data centers on the DMI this year remains substantial. If we remove all data center projects between 2023 and 2025, commercial planning would be up 4% from year-ago levels, and the entire DMI would be up 12%. While momentum decelerated for data centers this month, levels of activity remain very high.
A total of 25 projects valued at $100 million or more entered planning throughout March. The largest commercial projects included the $400 million Logistics Land Investments Data Center in Bessemer, Alabama, the $340 million expansion to the Ontario Convention Center and Hotel in Ontario, California, and the $300 million Project Cinco Data Center (300 MW) in Natalia, Texas. The largest institutional projects to enter planning were the $500 million ambulatory care building at Scripps San Marcos Medical Center, the $165 million Roanoke High School in Roanoke, Virginia and the $135 million Milken Community School expansion in Los Angeles, California.
The DMI is a monthly measure of the value of nonresidential building projects going into planning, shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year.
