Building Industry Loses 4,500 Jobs Despite Positive US Job Growth

The U.S. saw better than expected job growth in June as the economy added 372,000 jobs and the unemployment rate remained at 3.6%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The country has gained around an average of 380,000 jobs over the past three months, which is well above pre-pandemic levels. The economy has also replaced all of the 21 million private-sector jobs lost at the beginning of the pandemic.

Several sectors posted strong job gains in June: Healthcare added 78,000, transportation and warehousing 36,000 and professional services gained 74,000.

Despite the positive growth, the residential building industry took a hit as contractors lost 4,500 jobs thanks to supply chain issues and other problems highlighting the nationwide housing shortage.

Additionally, labor force participation inched down to around 62.2% from 62.3%. This employment-population ratio measures the number of Americans working or actively seeking work. The figure is 1.2 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels seen in February 2020, according to Business Insider.