Hiring slows amid economic uncertainty

Dive Temporary:

• Development counted 264,000 unfilled job openings on the last day of February, a 9% enhance from January however a 38.5% lower from the identical month in 2024, in keeping with information launched by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Tuesday.
• The report signifies the variety of open positions that employers actively search to fill. At February’s finish, 3.1% of all building jobs went unfilled.
• As well as, the variety of quits jumped by 17,000, marking the second straight month of will increase, whereas layoffs held comparatively regular. Economists say the numbers spotlight continued financial uncertainty, however imagine the longer term holds promise for the trade.

Dive Perception:

A brand new commander in chief brings new insurance policies, and up to now, President Donald Trump’s tariff coverage has muddied the financial outlook for contractors.

Layoffs and discharges in building declined by 27% 12 months over 12 months, as the speed of layoffs fell to 1.7%, the bottom ever recorded for February, in keeping with Macrina Wilkins, senior analysis analyst for the Related Normal Contractors of America.

Wilkins mentioned the report signifies not only a easy slowdown, however a shift in labor dynamics.

“Contractors are clearly scaling again on hiring and new job postings — doubtless reflecting fewer upcoming initiatives or elevated warning concerning the financial outlook,” she mentioned. “But the record-low layoff price means that corporations are holding onto their present workforce, signaling they anticipate enterprise to rebound or decide up later within the 12 months.”

Anirban Basu, chief economist for Associated Builders and Contractors, shared the identical sentiment, noting the big hole between layoffs and quits.

“Nonetheless, there are indicators that building staff retain outsized leverage in comparison with their employers,” Basu mentioned in a launch. “Contractors stay reluctant to put off staff, whereas building staff give up their jobs on the quickest tempo since final Could.”

Nonetheless, information from ABC members indicated for Basu that staffing ranges will proceed to extend — that means the tempo of hiring will doubtless speed up within the second half of 2025.