建造jobs surged by 60,000 in February, with increases across all sectors and the industry’s unemployment rate improved on a monthly and year-over-year basis, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics has报告。

最新的劳工统计局看看美国月度就业picture, released on March 4, showed construction’s total employment reached 7,613,000 in February. That is only 11,000 jobs, or less than 1%, below the industry’s pre-pandemic peak of 7,624,000, reached in February 2020.

Among construction sectors, specialty trade contractors recorded the highest February upturn, adding 44,200 positions. Building construction employment increased by 8,900.

Heavy and civil engineering construction, which includes infrastructure work, was up by 7,300 during the month, BLS data show.

The bureau’s jobs figures for February are preliminary estimates; they often are adjusted upward or downward in the succeeding couple of months.

实际上，在新报告中，BLS修改了其1月以前的早期建筑工作编号，并将其2021年12月的数字提高了18,000。

在进一步的娱乐活动中，建筑的失业率从1月份的7.1％下降到2月的6.7％。根据BLS的数据，该行业的利率也比全年的9.6％高得多。

该局的失业率未针对季节性差异进行调整；BLS工作总计进行了季节调整。

Architectural and engineering services—a separate BLS category from construction—also posted upbeat February results, gaining 4,400 jobs. A/E services employment also was up 91,600, or 5.8%, year over year.

Rising employment can be accompanied by higher wages. Construction’s average hourly earnings in February climbed to $33.91, up 5.1% from the year-earlier level, according to BLS data.

Anirban Basu, Associated Builders and Contractors chief economist, noted that construction's February jobs increase included a pickup of 29,400 in nonresidential categories. Basu said in astatement, "bottom line, the U.S. economy is charging into the post-pandemic world with significant momentum and residential construction is part of that story."

Basu also said, "Evidence indicates that contractors have had a somewhat easier time filling available positions recently." He sees signs of supply-chain improvement, but says "the Ukraine-Russia war may create new issues on that [inflation] front."

But he still sees "reasons for concern," including an expectation that overall federal spending will drop in 2022 and high inflation could cause consumer spending to slow down.

总体而言，BLS报告了2月份的工作量增加了678,000。从一月份的4.0％开始，全国失业率降至3.8％。

AGC Weighs In on New Numbers

Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America chief economist, noted construction’s widespread February jobs gains and also observed that the industry’s average pay for hourly craft workers increased at its fastest rate in nearly four decades.

But in astatement, Simonson added that “filling positions remains a struggle, as pay is rising even faster in other [non-construction] sectors.”

西蒙森说，建筑的BLS数字“生产和非普遍雇员”（通常涵盖小时工艺工人）在截至2月的12个月中上升了6％。他说，这是自1982年12月以来的最高利率。

Simonson also noted that construction’s average pay of $31.62 per hour for such workers was 17% above the private-sector average. But the wage rate for all private sector workers climbed by 6.7% year over year, outpacing even construction’s steep gains.

因此，AGC说，建筑公司正在面临其他行业中雇主的工人的激烈竞争，这些工人提供了诸如灵活的工作时间或在家工作之类的激励措施 - AGC指出的条件在建设中是不可能的。

AGC还表示，BLS数据显示，在过去的12个月中，建筑经验的失业求职者人数下降了26％。西蒙森说，减少是另一个迹象表明，建筑公司将难以填补在该行业经验的工人的职位。

With infrastructure work expected to climb and demand expected to be strong in other segments, AGC is calling on the Biden administration to boost funding for career and technical education and to support a wider array of apprenticeship and training efforts.