Job openings as a share of total construction employment are near a seven-year high, according to a November survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The pace of hiring slowed in 2013 compared to 2012, the survey showed, and the total number of open, unfilled positions in November was the highest since May 2008.

The 2.3 percent jobs openings rate for the construction sector in November was the highest since April 2007, consistent with reports of local labor shortages, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), which measures the number of unfilled positions as a share of total sector employment.

Monthly gross hiring in the construction sector fell from 329,000 to 294,000 from October to November; over the same period, the hiring rate fell from 5.3 percent to 5.2 percent as measured on a three-month moving average. The pace of construction hiring has slowed during 2013 compared to 2012 levels.

The total number of open, unfilled positions in the construction industry was the highest since May 2008, again consistent with anecdotal reports of labor shortages for builders. The 139,000 unfilled positions in November marks nine out of the last eleven months in which this figure has equaled or exceeded 100,000.

Measured as a three-month moving average, the openings rate (blue line, above) has staged a noticeable rise since September 2012, with a brief pause during the middle of 2013. Combined with a declining sector layoff rate (non-seasonally adjusted), charted above as a 12-month moving average, the uptick in open positions since 2012 suggests more, if modest, construction hiring in the months ahead – if firms can find workers with the right skills.

Monthly employment data for December 2013 (the employment count data from the BLS establishment survey are published one month ahead of the JOLTS data) indicate that total employment in home building stands at 2.177 million, broken down as 601,000 builders and 1.576 million residential specialty trade contractors.

According to the BLS data, the home building sector has added 100,000 jobs year-over-year. Since the point of peak decline of home building employment, when total job losses for the industry stood at 1.466 million, 193,000 positions have been added to the residential construction sector. For 2013, home building employment is averaging monthly net growth of about 8,300 positions.

For the economy as a whole, the November JOLTS data indicate that the hiring rate was unchanged at 3.3 percent of total employment. The hiring rate has been in the 3.1 percent to 3.4 percent range since January 2011. The job openings rate (2.8 percent) has been at this level for three straight months. This job openings rate matches the post-recession high.

JOLTS data is available at this link.