With the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics describing the total increase of 12,000 jobs in the U.S. economy in October as “essentially unchanged” from the previous month, the construction industry’s estimated 8,000 job gain it still stood out.

For example, among goods-producing industries, construction job growth in October was the largest; by comparison, the manufacturing sector lost 46,000 positions in the past month.

Noting the possible impact of two recent hurricanes, BLS report for October cautiously noted that “wage employment estimates in some industries are likely to have been affected by the hurricanes; however, it is not possible to quantify the net effect’.

Anirban Basu, chief economist at Associated Builders and Contractors, however noted in a press release that “October’s employment report was severely skewed by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.” Basu added that this latest report marked the fifth consecutive month of construction adding jobs.

“Over the past year, the construction sector has added jobs at exactly twice the pace of the overall economy, and growth has been even faster in the non-residential segment,” Basu added.

Ken Simonson, chief economist at the Associated General Contractors of America, responded similarly to the report, noting in a statement that “construction job growth occurred even as Southeast hurricanes likely reduced employment in previously fast-growing states.”

“Contractors are hiring and raising hourly wages at above-average rates in an effort to keep projects on track,” Simonson said.

According to the BLS, construction contractors added a total of 1,600 jobs in October, with 1,300 of those jobs coming from residential construction firms and just 300 jobs from non-residential construction contractors.

Specialty contractors again posted the largest monthly job gain, with an expected increase of 7,700 positions. However, specialty residential construction firms saw a decrease of 6,600 positions, while nonresidential specialty trade firms posted a gain of 14,300.

Employment at heavy construction and civil engineering firms fell by about 1,100 positions, according to the BLS.

Looking forward to 2025, ABC’s Basu sees reason for optimism, at least to start the year.

“Over the past year, the construction sector has added jobs at exactly twice the pace of the overall economy, and growth has been even faster in the non-residential segment,” he said. “While contractors expect staffing levels to increase over the past year. The next two quarters, according to the ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, it looks like industry wages will continue to expand at least through the early months of 2025.”