The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) published today their analysis of new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showing rapid job growth in the construction industry last month.

The industry added 110,000 jobs in March according to the data, and 931,000 since a year ago in April 2020 when the full effects of coronavirus pandemic shutdowns were at a fever pitch. 

According to the ABC’s analysis of the data, unemployment in construction fell to 8.6 percent in March, which is down from the previous month’s rate of 9.6 percent but still 1.7 percent lower than the rate in March of 2020.

Some promising news is that this growth hasn’t been limited to the residential sector, which has been doing relatively well despite the pandemic. A whopping 73,100 non-residential construction jobs were added in March, an indicator that things may be getting back on track.

“Here comes the tsunami of economic and employment growth across America,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. 

“With more stimulus on the way, the United States may end up growing faster than China this year, which would be the first time that occurred in decades,” he added.

Basu goes on to talk about how much of the stimulus money will directly benefit construction workers, “particularly the heavy and civil engineering segment.”

“While any infrastructure stimulus should be geared toward projects generating the highest rates of return and open to bids by all competent contractors, the sheer volume of money flowing into the economy is set to create massive forward momentum for the balance of 2021 and likely through 2022,” Basu said, adding “Contractor optimism seems to reflect this building momentum, according to the latest ABC Construction Confidence Index.”

Photo via Wikimedia Commons.