The construction industry only added about 2,000 jobs on net in July, according to new numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

When compared on a year-over-year basis, industry employment increased by 96,000 jobs, or 1.2%, according to an analysis from the Associated Builders and Contractors.

Construction unemployment remained unchanged at 3.4% in July. Unemployment across all industries rose from 4.1% in June to 4.2% last month.

“The construction industry has added just 7,000 jobs over the past four months,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. "Industrywide employment is up only 1.2% over the past year, a lackluster pace of growth that historically is seen during and immediately following recessions."

Meanwhile, nonresidential construction employment increased by 6,400 positions on net. Nonresidential specialty trade added 1,900 new positions, while nonresidential building lost 1,500 jobs in July. Basu characterized this as growing at "twice the pace of the industry at large over the past 12 months."

"Given that ABC member backlog remains healthy and hiring expectations remain relatively optimistic, according to ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator, it’s possible that weakness will be confined to the residential side of the industry during the second half of 2025," Basu said.

Construction joins many other major industries in seeing little change over the month, including mining, quarrying, manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, and information, among others.

Nationwide, BLS notes employment changed little, adding 73,000 jobs in July, below most estimates. This follows a trend of little to no change since April. The BLS also revised its May and June numbers, which turned out to be lower by more than 250,000 jobs. Revisions to economic data are a routine procedure by the BLS, most often caused by lags in data collection.

Among the unemployed, the number of new entrants increased by 275,000 in July to 985,000. New entrants are unemployed people who are looking for their first job. In July, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 179,000 to 1.8 million.

As previously reported, the labor market has been weakened from uncertain trade policies, higher interest rates and federal spending cuts, paired with tougher immigration enforcement policies.

Trump Reacts

Not satisfied with the latest report and the BLS's stunning revisions, President Donald Trump ordered the firing of the head of the BLS hours after the jobs report, which shows hiring has significantly slowed down. The president posted on his Truth Social site that the job numbers are "being produced by a Biden Appointee" and called for his administration to immediately terminate Commissioner Erika McEntarfer.

"In my opinion, today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, ME, look bad," the president said on Truth Social.

In June, Trump posted "GREAT JOB NUMBERS" on Truth Social.

Bill Wiatrowski, the deputy director of BLS, will become the acting director during the search for a replacement, according to Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer. The BLS is the primary agency collecting information about labor markets and the economy.

“Following expectation-defying three percent GDP growth in the second quarter, today’s jobs report provides further evidence that the American people are seeing real progress as we recover from the failed economic policies of the previous Administration," Chavez-DeRemer said in a written statement.