Analyst Lydia DePillis said in commenting on U.S. August nonfarm payrolls that construction is showing renewed strength: after job losses last year the sector has averaged roughly 11,000 payroll additions per month so far this year, driven largely by data center construction. Employment gains are concentrated in nonresidential specialty contractors — pipefitters, electricians and other skilled trades needed to install large numbers of servers.

2026-09-04

Analyst Lydia DePillis said in commenting on U.S. August nonfarm payrolls that construction is showing renewed strength: after job losses last year the sector has averaged roughly 11,000 payroll additions per month so far this year, driven largely by data center construction. Employment gains are concentrated in nonresidential specialty contractors — pipefitters, electricians and other skilled trades needed to install large numbers of servers.