The U.S. construction industry added 9,000 jobs in April 2026, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of Bureau of Labor Statistics data released May 8, 2026. Total construction employment reached 8,321,000 seasonally adjusted — a gain that continued the industry's decade-long pattern of modest but consistent growth. Over the past 12 months, construction added 50,000 jobs, an increase of 0.6 percent, slightly outpacing the 0.2 percent gain in total nonfarm payroll employment, per the AGC's analysis.

But the headline gain masks a stark divergence between two halves of the industry: a nonresidential construction sector adding jobs at a healthy pace, driven heavily by data center demand, and a residential construction sector in a deepening year-over-year decline driven by affordability pressures and elevated mortgage rates.

Nonresidential: The Engine of April's Gains

Nonresidential construction employment increased by 19,000 positions in April and has added 98,600 jobs over the past 12 months, per the AGC. The breakdown reveals where the strength lies:

• Nonresidential specialty trade contractors: +12,600 jobs for the month, +57,700 over 12 months
• Nonresidential building contractors: +5,600 in April, +18,600 over 12 months
• Heavy and civil engineering: +800 in April, +22,300 over 12 months

AGC CEO Jeffrey Shoaf was direct about what is driving the nonresidential surge: "Data center construction is one of the main reasons the construction industry continues to add jobs and boost wages faster than the overall economy," he said in the May 8 release. Data center projects require large teams of electricians, mechanical contractors, and structural specialists — many of them in the specialty trade category that showed the largest gains. Projects are concentrated in Northern Virginia, Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago, and other major metro markets where data center campuses require sustained multi-year workforces.

Residential: A Persistent Decline

Against the nonresidential gains, residential construction employment fell by 10,400 jobs in April and has shed 49,200 positions over the past 12 months. The breakdown shows broad-based contraction:

• Residential specialty trade contractors: -8,900 in April, -42,100 over 12 months
• Residential building contractors: -1,500 in April, -7,100 over 12 months

The residential decline reflects the same conditions tracked by NAHB's builder sentiment surveys throughout 2026: elevated mortgage rates, affordability constraints, and buyer hesitancy. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index stood at 37 in May 2026 — the 14th consecutive month below the 50 midpoint that separates positive from negative sentiment, per the National Association of Home Builders. Single-family housing starts were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 930,000 in April 2026, down 9.0 percent from March and down 2.4 percent year-over-year, per Census Bureau data.

Wages: Construction Remains a Premium Employer

Average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees in construction — a measure that covers most onsite craft workers and many office staff — rose to $38.73 per hour in April 2026. That figure is 20.2 percent higher than the average for all private-sector production employees. Construction pay increased 4.8 percent over the past year, compared to 3.7 percent for the broader private sector, per the AGC.

AGC Director of Market Insights Macrina Wilkins noted that firms are paying a "growing premium to attract enough people to complete data centers and other projects." The wage differential reflects both the shortage of qualified specialty trade workers and the intense competition for MEP crews, ironworkers, and other skilled tradespeople on large nonresidential projects.

The Data Center Warning

A notable element of the May 8 AGC release was an explicit warning about the risk that community opposition to data center construction poses to overall industry employment. "The more communities do to restrict construction of data centers, the more likely future construction growth will be dampened or even decline," AGC CEO Shoaf said.

The warning is grounded in real trends. More than 100 local governments across the U.S. enacted moratoriums on data center construction in the past year, per Troutman Pepper's May 2026 analysis. Community opposition has been driven by concerns about utility bills, water consumption, noise, and impacts on property values. In at least one case — Oldham County, Kentucky — a developer with a 100 MW data center already in the permitting pipeline abandoned the project after a moratorium took effect, per the same analysis. If data center construction slows meaningfully, the specialty trade employment numbers that powered April's gains could reverse.

The Broader Construction Spending Context

The employment figures align with Census Bureau construction spending data released May 7, 2026. Total construction spending reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,185.5 billion in March 2026, up 0.6 percent from February and 1.6 percent above March 2025. Private nonresidential construction ran at $729.4 billion annually, while public construction totaled $526.4 billion, per the Census Bureau.

The combination of strong nonresidential spending and selective hiring — particularly for data centers and other technology-intensive facilities — reflects an industry that is growing its capacity strategically rather than broadly. Contractors bidding residential work face a different market than those pursuing industrial, data center, and heavy civil projects, and the employment data makes that bifurcation concrete.

Sources

Associated General Contractors of America — Construction Employment Rises By 9,000 In April (May 8, 2026)
Bureau of Labor Statistics — Employment Situation Summary, April 2026 (May 8, 2026)
U.S. Census Bureau — Monthly Construction Spending, March 2026 (May 7, 2026)
National Association of Home Builders — Builder Sentiment Posts Gain in May (May 18, 2026)
U.S. Census Bureau — New Residential Construction, April 2026 (May 21, 2026)
Troutman Pepper — Policymakers Consider Temporary Pause on AI Data Center Construction (May 14, 2026)