The Construction Economist — July 11, 2026

Job ads hit a 10-month high while hiring and quitting freeze · The trade deficit widens $23B · Payrolls add 57K as construction unemployment climbs · Steel ships higher, sawmills shrink · A Davis-Bacon ruling holds

Top News

Construction Job Openings Rise to 10-Month High in May, Hiring Remains Historically Slow Associated Builders and Contractors · ~3 min read

The construction industry had 298,000 job openings on the last day of May — up 32,000 from April, up 76,000 from a year earlier and the most since July 2025 — according to an Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The turnover data ran the other way: the hiring rate fell to 3.5%, tying February's all-time series low, the quits rate dropped to 1.3% from 1.7% in April, and layoffs rose to 121,000 from 103,000 (not seasonally adjusted) in a month when they fell in each of the past two years. ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu said the openings increase "likely reflects exceptional demand for certain occupations critical to data center buildouts, like electricians, rather than increased industrywide demand for labor."

What it means: Openings count ads; hires, quits and layoffs count actual movement — and movement is frozen. Crews aren't quitting because there are fewer real places to go, firms outside the data-center trades aren't adding, and what churn exists is employer-initiated. For staffing plans, poaching risk stays concentrated in electrical and mechanical trades near data-center work; elsewhere expect low voluntary turnover, and watch the June print (August 4) for whether the layoff uptick extends.

U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to $77.6 Billion in May U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis · ~4 min read

The goods and services trade deficit widened to $77.6 billion in May from a revised $54.6 billion in April, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the Census Bureau reported July 7. Exports fell $10.5 billion to $317.7 billion while imports rose $12.5 billion to $395.3 billion, pushing the goods deficit up $23.6 billion to $106.5 billion. Year to date, the total deficit is still down $203.9 billion, or 40.6%, from the same period in 2025.

Materials & Supply Chain

May Steel Shipments Up 6.2 Percent From Prior Month American Iron & Steel Institute · ~2 min read

U.S. steel mills shipped 8,141,900 net tons in May 2026, up 6.2% from April and 8.5% above the 7,507,349 net tons shipped in May 2025, the American Iron and Steel Institute reported. Year-to-date 2026 shipments were up 4.6% from the same period in 2025.

U.S. Sawmill Output Continues to Shrink NAHB Now · ~2 min read

NAHB reported that U.S. sawmill output continued to shrink, extending a contraction in domestic lumber-production capacity. The association pointed to reduced capacity as a factor in lumber availability for residential construction.

Labor & Workforce

U.S. Economy Adds 57,000 Jobs in June NAHB Eye on Housing · ~3 min read

U.S. employers added 57,000 jobs in June, following a downwardly revised gain of 129,000 in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Within construction, residential employment fell by 8,600 while nonresidential added roughly 19,900 jobs; residential construction has now shed a net 48,800 jobs over 12 months, the sixteenth consecutive month of annual decline. The construction unemployment rate rose to 6.2% in June from 5.2% in May, its highest reading since July 2021.

DOL Awards $162 Million in Pay-for-Performance Apprenticeship Grants U.S. Department of Labor · ~3 min read

The U.S. Department of Labor awarded nearly $162 million across five cooperative agreements under its Pay-for-Performance Incentive Payments Program, announced July 7. The model ties federal funding to verified retention and progression milestones for registered apprentices, with awards targeting shipbuilding, the defense industrial base, telecommunications and infrastructure trades supporting the AI, semiconductor and nuclear energy industries — including $40 million to Jobs for the Future and $29.9 million to the Wireless Infrastructure Association.

Policy, Codes & Regulation

The Revolutionary FAR Overhaul Has Begun AGC News · ~4 min read

During the week of June 23, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy released four documents into the Federal Register proposing changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) reported. The revisions stem from an executive order, "Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement," directing sweeping changes to federal contracting rules.

Court Decision Keeps Davis-Bacon Expansion Provisions Blocked Indefinitely ABC Newsline · ~2 min read

A federal court decision keeps an expansion of Davis-Bacon Act prevailing-wage provisions blocked indefinitely, according to ABC. The Davis-Bacon Act sets minimum wage rates on federal and federally assisted construction projects.

The Construction Economist — What's Moving Construction? The Economic Look-Ahead.