Contractors Added 17,000 Jobs in May as Craft Worker Pay Climbs 5% Year-Over-Year
According to Engineering News-Record, the U.S. construction industry added an estimated 17,000 positions in May, just short of the 18,000 reported the prior month, with nonresidential contractors leading the way for another straight month.
Nonresidential firms accounted for 15,700 of those gains. Specialty contractors drove the bulk of that growth, filling an estimated 11,400 positions. Nonresidential building contractors added 1,700 workers, and heavy and civil engineering firms boosted headcount by 2,600. On the residential side, building contractors shed 1,700 positions while residential specialty trade contractors added 2,600 workers.
Both the Associated General Contractors of America and Associated Builders and Contractors pointed to data centre construction as a key driver. AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson noted that “nonresidential construction firms keep adding workers and boosting pay,” citing “strong demand from data centres and related power and manufacturing projects, all of which require highly paid, skilled workers.” AGC’s release also noted that craft worker pay rose 5.0% year-over-year, outpacing broader labour market averages.
ABC’s Chief Economist Anirban Basu described the results as demonstrating “broader economic resilience” but cautioned that the strong labour market makes interest rate cuts “less likely” — a headwind for project financing. He added that momentum “appears set to continue over the coming months” given pipeline demand from publicly funded construction activity.
What It Means for Subcontractors
For specialty trade contractors — the segment that added the most jobs — the May data confirms that skilled labour remains tight heading into the summer build season. Subcontractors in electrical, mechanical, and heavy civil work should expect continued wage pressure when bidding labour-intensive scopes, particularly on data centre and infrastructure projects.
AGC flagged a specific risk: if Congress does not renew the federal highway and transit bill before it expires at the end of September, publicly funded construction employment could stall. Subcontractors with highway and bridge work in their backlog should factor that uncertainty into their Q4 planning. Tools like Aimsio help field service contractors track crew utilisation and cost-per-scope in real time — useful when labour costs are moving at 5% annually.
