The construction industry recorded 305,000 job openings on the last day of June, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. JOLTS defines a job opening as any unfilled position for which an employer is actively recruiting. Industry job openings increased by 14,000 last month and are up by 81,000 from the same time last year.

“Interpreting these data is often challenging,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “One could take these figures at face value and conclude that construction is thriving and driving demand for workers higher. Indeed, ABC’s Construction Confidence Indicator shows that the average contractor expects rising revenues and employment over the next six months.

“But June’s construction spending report indicates that overall residential and nonresidential construction spending continues to decline,” said Basu. “Accordingly, one might look for other explanations for rising construction job openings, including demographic considerations.

“Many contractors view a structural shortfall of skilled labor as their primary challenge because many highly experienced, productive workers are retiring,” said Basu. “It is conceivable that these workers are being replaced with less skilled and productive workers, thereby requiring a few workers to be replaced by many.

“Alternatively, the data may not be capturing all that transpires,” said Basu. “It may be that certain people who had been working in construction were doing so without proper documentation. At least some of these workers are no longer available at jobsites, inducing faster hiring and expanding job openings as contractors work to replace them.”

National nonresidential construction spending rose 0.1% in June, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.277 trillion.

Spending was up on a monthly basis in 8 of 16 nonresidential subcategories. Both public and private nonresidential spending were up 0.1% in June. Private nonresidential construction spending was down nearly 5% from a year ago.

“Through April 2025, private nonresidential construction spending ascended to $806.1 billion on a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis, an all-time high,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Since then, that figure has expanded only three times over the past 14 months.

“Despite an ongoing data center construction boom, private nonresidential construction spending has declined to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $745.3 billion since the April 2025 peak, which translates into a decline exceeding 7%,” said Basu. “Tellingly, private nonresidential construction spending excluding data centers fell 0.6% in June 2026 and is down 7.9% year over year.

“Meanwhile, data center construction was up 7% in June and up 46% from a year ago. Contractors working on data centers continue to benefit from this momentum. According to ABC’s latest Construction Backlog Indicator, the 13% of ABC members under contract to work on data centers have significantly higher backlog (11.0 months) than the 87% that are not (8.5 months).”

By Luiza Mills, Interstate Electrical Services Corporation

Meta Platforms Inc. and Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., our chapter’s national parent organization, recently announced a partnership to educate and provide construction-ready career pathways for thousands of data center construction technicians as a meaningful step toward meeting the growing demand for data centers workers.  Unfortunately, the Healey/Driscoll administration’s subsequent framework for data center construction in Massachusetts, which includes a provision promoting project labor agreements, will effectively shut our member firms out of the process due to the PLA’s union labor requirement and, more broadly, is a disincentive to private development in the Commonwealth.  

America’s Workforce Academy is a $115 million investment in the next generation of construction professionals that includes a five-week training program and a job offer from contractors working on Meta projects at the conclusion of the program. It creates another pathway into the construction industry and can serve as a precursor to a formal open shop or union apprenticeship program.

“America’s Workforce Academy is a transformational endeavor creating incredible careers in construction.  ABC is proud to work with Meta, CBRE and academy community partners to welcome all who want to build their career dreams as construction professionals,” said Michael Bellaman, ABC president and CEO. “ABC believes in creating opportunities for all on a level playing field and is ready to meet the industry’s needs and help individuals achieve their career dreams.  ABC is honored to partner with Meta to expand the pipeline of data center construction workers.

The American Workforce Academy partnership will: 

• Build a Sustainable Talent Pipeline: establishes scalable, repeatable workforce development models that align industry, training providers and workforce systems to meet ongoing demand.
• Deliver Accelerated, Job-Ready Training: provides standardized, industry-aligned training that equips participants with the skills, safety knowledge and jobsite readiness needed to contribute quickly and effectively.
• Ensure Safety and Productivity from Day One: prepares participants to meet industry and project-specific safety standards and contribute productively on the jobsite from the outset.

But excitement about the partnership was quickly dashed when the Healey/Driscoll administration made PLAs a condition for receiving state tax incentives for data center projects.  With the PLA, the Commonwealth is effectively telling businesses that if they want to build in Massachusetts, they don’t have the option of using ABC members on their privately funded projects.  The benefit from tax incentives will also be offset by the additional cost of building with a PLA.

Meanwhile, other states are aggressively supporting data centers and not imposing burdensome construction requirements.  The imposition of PLAs on private development will only exacerbate the challenges we face in attracting businesses to the Commonwealth.  Meta is just one example of the scores of national corporations that have established relationships with ABC members and other open shop contractors across the country.  

As Bellaman said, “The sustained demand for data center construction technicians means the industry needs an all-of-the-above approach to address this shortage and grow the construction talent pool.”

We hope the Healey/Driscoll administration will consider these points and reconsider its framework for data center construction in Massachusetts. 

Construction input prices decreased 1.1% in June compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data. Nonresidential construction input prices also decreased 1.1% for the month.

Overall construction input prices are 7.6% higher than one year ago, while nonresidential construction input prices are 7.4% higher. Prices decreased in 2 of the 3 energy subcategories last month. Crude petroleum prices declined 12.1%, and unprocessed energy materials fell 8.1%. Natural gas prices were up 16.6% in June.

“Aggregate construction input prices receded in June due to the steep decline in oil prices that occurred throughout the month,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Despite that decline, however, ongoing materials price escalation is likely over the coming months. The conflict in Iran has resumed, triggering a roughly 15% rebound in oil prices, and tariff-affected commodities like iron, steel and copper continue to experience steep price increases.

“While contractors remain optimistic about their margins, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, higher input costs will likely weigh on profitability during the second half of 2026," said Basu.

The construction industry had 298,000 job openings on the last day of May, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. JOLTS defines a job opening as any unfilled position for which an employer is actively recruiting. Industry job openings increased by 32,000 last month and are up by 76,000 from the same time last year.

“Construction job openings rose to a 10-month high in May,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Unfortunately, that increase likely reflects exceptional demand for certain occupations critical to data center buildouts, like electricians, rather than increased industrywide demand for labor.

“The construction hiring rate fell sharply in May and, at 3.5%, matches February’s all-time low," said Basu. "Rising layoff activity and a falling quit rate also suggest that demand for construction labor weakened in May. Despite these signs, contractors remain optimistic about growing their staffing levels, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index.” 

National nonresidential construction spending slid 1.5% in May, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.267 trillion.

Spending was up on a monthly basis in 11 of the 16 nonresidential subcategories. Private nonresidential spending was down 0.3%, while public nonresidential construction spending was up 0.4% in May.

“Private nonresidential construction spending shrank for the seventh consecutive month in May and is now down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “This weakness is largely due to the ongoing decline in manufacturing-related construction spending as CHIPS Act-supported projects wind down, yet overall there are few sources of momentum in the segment.

“Yes, the amusement and recreation category continues to grow at a healthy pace, and the religious category has rebounded meaningfully over the past year,” said Basu. “But those modestly sized segments are far too small to carry the broader nonresidential market, especially given the weakness in larger categories. For instance, warehouse construction spending, which appeared to stabilize at the start of 2026, has now fallen for three consecutive months and is down 8.5% year over year, while the general office category remains in a state of freefall, down 11.9% since May 2025.

“For now, momentum remains largely concentrated in the data center segment,” said Basu. “As seen in ABC’s most recent Construction Backlog Indicator release, those fortunate enough to have data center work have significantly longer backlogs (11.6 months) than those that do not (8.6 months).”

The construction industry added 11,000 jobs on net in June, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has expanded by 64,000 jobs, an increase of 0.8%.

Nonresidential construction employment increased by 19,900 positions, with gains in all three subcategories. Nonresidential specialty traded added the most jobs, increasing by 14,100 net positions. Nonresidential building and heavy and civil engineering added 3,200 and 2,600 jobs, respectively, in June.

The construction unemployment rate was 4.7% in June. Unemployment across all industries dropped to 4.2% and is 0.1 percentage point higher than one year ago.

“Today’s jobs report was full of positive signs for the nonresidential side of the industry,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The nonresidential segment continued to add jobs in June and has grown several times faster than the economywide average over the past 12 months.

“At the same time, the supply of labor appears adequate to fuel ongoing hiring,” said Basu. “The industry’s unemployment rate rose to 4.7%, higher than in any June since 2021, and that slack took some pressure off of wage escalation. Average hourly earnings for nonmanagerial construction workers rose at the slowest pace since last September. With ABC contractors signaling ongoing hiring intentions, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, it appears likely that the industry will continue to expand its employment base over the coming months.” 

On June 18, the General Services Administration published significant new procedures for procurements subject to the project labor agreement mandate on large-scale federal construction projects valued at over $35 million through a new Acquisition Letter and PLA Playbook.

The documents explain that moving forward, the agency is utilizing a ‘paired-proposal’ procedure where contractors are still required to submit a bid that includes a PLA, but can optionally also submit a non-PLA bid.

The guidance states that GSA will then compare the PLA and non-PLA prices. However, the PLA bid price is evaluated as if it is 10% lower than its true price (up to $15 million) to reflect the premium that GSA deems reasonable for a PLA.

If the non-PLA price is lower even after the PLA bid is reduced in price, GSA will consider that contractor's non-PLA bid. If the non-PLA bid wins the award, GSA will obtain a PLA mandate exception for that project.

As of now, this guidance appears to only apply to GSA contracts, representing a relatively small percentage of large-scale federal construction.

ABC is still analyzing the impacts of this change. Despite the indication of potential exceptions, the guidance still appears to favor the use of PLA mandates on GSA contracts.

ABC continues to strongly oppose the illegal, discriminatory and inflationary federal PLA mandate through ongoing litigation and advocacy.

Associated Builders and Contractors reported that its Construction Backlog Indicator rose to 9.1 months in May, according to an ABC member survey conducted May 20 to June 3. The reading is up 0.3 months from April and 0.7 months from May 2025. 

View the full Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index data series.

Backlog for the month increased in every region except for the South. Despite the monthly movement, the South remains the region with the longest backlog and the largest year-over-year increase in backlog.

ABC’s Construction Confidence Index readings for sales, profit margins and staffing levels fell in May. The readings for all three components remain above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations for growth over the next six months. 

“Backlog rose to a nearly three-year high in May,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “This increase largely reflects the massive data center investments taking place across the nation, as the 14% of ABC members under contract to work on data centers continue to have much higher backlog (11.6 months) than those that are not (8.6 months). The way this boom is disproportionately benefiting larger contractors helps to explain why contractor confidence slipped in May even as backlog continued to climb.”

By Luiza Mills, 2026 ABC Massachusetts chair, Interstate Electrical Services Corporation

June got off to a very good start for ABC Massachusetts when our Gould Construction Institute (GCI) was awarded a $225,000 grant over three years from the Cummings Foundation to create a “High School-to-Career Pathways in the Skilled Trades” pilot program, which will target 25-30 students per year in six Middlesex County high schools.

GCI, in partnership with Building Mass Careers (BMC) and Franklin Cummings Tech, seeks to address the accelerating construction labor shortage while creating a direct, sustainable pipeline from high school into high-demand skilled trade careers. This team continues to work tirelessly to provide pathways for those looking to get into the trades and enrich their futures.

The construction industry is facing an unprecedented workforce crisis. Nationally, the sector had to attract more than 439,000 new workers in 2025, with that number projected to reach nearly 499,000 in 2026, just to meet growing demand. At the same time, one in five construction workers is now 55 or older, and increased immigration enforcement pressures have further reduced the available labor pool.

The impacts that are being felt acutely across Massachusetts, where construction employment represents only 5.3 percent of the workforce, one of the lowest shares nationally, even as demand continues to grow, leading to project disruptions and higher costs.

In response, this initiative will establish a structured regional talent pipeline through formal partnerships with Bedford, Billerica, Burlington, Chelmsford, Dracut, and Lowell High Schools. Each year, the program will recruit and enroll five to six graduating seniors per school into one of two career pathways: GCI's registered apprenticeship trade programs or Franklin Cummings Tech's college-level Electrical and HVAC courses.  All participants earn apprenticeship-eligible training credits, accelerating entry into paid employment.

The program will measure its success using indicators such as student recruitment levels, enrollment numbers, completion rates and post-program employment placements.

An investment in this initiative is an investment in economic stability, workforce readiness, safety and community prosperity. By building the next generation of skilled construction professionals, this program will strengthen Massachusetts' ability to deliver housing, infrastructure, and clean energy projects for decades to come, and will open the doors of opportunity for our future industry leaders.

A huge thank you to the Cummings Foundation for the grant and the confidence it has expressed in GCI!