More than 600,000 Construction Layoffs in March
The number of job losses in the construction sector more than tripled between February and March as the economy was stopped in its tracks by COVID-19.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey data reveals there were 618,000 layoffs in the construction sector in March, a striking increase over the 202,000 total in February and a 245% jump over the 179,000 count in March 2019. It is expected the count will rise even higher when the BLS releases its April data in June.
The March data showed that the layoff rate in the construction industry surged to 8.1% in March from a 2.6% level in February. This was the highest rate recorded in the history of the JOLTS data, which began at the end of 2001. The largest layoff rates were recorded in accommodation/food services (31.4%) and arts/entertainment/recreation (21.2%).
Providing further analysis in this Eye on Housing blog post, NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz notes that current anecdotal evidence and four weeks of gains for mortgage application data suggest that the residential portion of the construction industry labor market may now be bottoming out.
Latest from NAHBNow
Aug 01, 2025
Meet at Home with Your Members of CongressNAHB members across the nation can build on the success of the June Legislative Conference by meeting with their lawmakers in their home districts in August to discuss key issues that affect the home building industry.
Jul 31, 2025
How Home Builders Beat the Labor Crunch with This Fast Financing PlanStruggling to secure labor can force builders to make tough decisions: Do you delay a project? Sacrifice profits? Or turn down new opportunities? But smart builders don’t just react — they adapt their financing strategy to meet labor challenges head-on.
Latest Economic News
Jul 31, 2025
Personal Income Rises 0.3% in JunePersonal income increased by 0.3% in June, following a 0.4% dip in May, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The gains in personal income were largely driven by higher wages and social benefits.
Jul 31, 2025
Housing Share of GDP: Second Quarter 2025Housing’s share of the economy registered 16.3% in the second quarter of 2025, according to the advance estimate of GDP produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This reading is unchanged from a revised level of 16.3% in the first quarter and is the same as the share one year ago.
Jul 30, 2025
Fed Remains on Pause AgainAt the conclusion of its July meeting, the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee once again held the federal funds rate constant at a top rate of 4.5%. However, two members of the committee dissented from the decision (Fed Board Governors Waller and Bowman), the largest number of dissenting votes since 1993.