Construction of Buildings: NAICS 236

About the Construction of Buildings subsector

The construction of buildings subsector is part of the construction sector.

The Construction of Buildings subsector comprises establishments primarily responsible for the construction of buildings. The work performed may include new work, additions, alterations, or maintenance and repairs. The on-site assembly of precut, panelized, and prefabricated buildings and construction of temporary buildings are included in this subsector. Part or all of the production work for which the establishments in this subsector have responsibility may be subcontracted to other construction establishments—usually specialty trade contractors.

North American Industry Classification System

The construction of buildings subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Residential Building Construction: NAICS 2361
  • Nonresidential Building Construction: NAICS 2362

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in construction of buildings. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Layoffs

Data series Back
data
Dec.
2008
Jan.
2009
Feb.
2009
Mar.
2009

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

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1,572.9 1,536.9 (P) 1,509.7 (P) 1,476.3

Employment, production workers

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1,093.3 1,015.6 (P) 985.7  

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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73 88 38 36

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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5,588 6,675 2,647 2,446

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Extended Mass Layoffs

Data series Back
data
1st quarter
2008
2nd quarter
2008
3rd quarter
2008
4th quarter
2008

Extended mass layoff events

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57 64 (P) 49 (P) 116

Separations

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6,364 7,585 (P) 6,938 (P) 14,761

Initial claimants

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7,894 8,944 (P) 9,686 (P) 14,302

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2008

Carpenters

428,610

Construction laborers

247,300

Construction managers

94,840

Cost estimators

38,800

First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers

165,700

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for construction of buildings.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours for production or nonsupervisory employees are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in construction of buildings.

Earnings and Hours of Production Workers

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2008
Dec.
2008
Jan.
2009
Feb.
2009

Average hourly earnings

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$21.89 $22.06 $21.87 (P) $21.97

Average weekly hours

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37.6 36.9 37.2 (P) 37.2

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2008
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Carpenters

$19.17 $20.94 $39,870 $43,560

Construction laborers

$14.35 $16.14 $29,850 $33,570

Construction managers

$37.45 $41.64 $77,890 $86,620

Cost estimators

$29.20 $31.08 $60,750 $64,650

First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers

$28.49 $29.87 $59,270 $62,120

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in construction of buildings. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.

Data series 2004 2005 2006 2007

Fatalities

 

Number of fatalities

225 227 219 249

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

 

Total recordable cases

5.6 5.3 5.1 4.7

Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer

2.9 2.8 2.6 2.3

Cases involving days away from work

2.2 2.0 1.8 1.7

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.7 0.8 0.8 0.7

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in construction of buildings.

Establishments

Data series Back
data
4th quarter
2007
1st quarter
2008
2nd quarter
2008
3rd quarter
2008

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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274,776 (P) 270,118 (P) 270,572 (P) 271,563

Local government

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96 (P) 95 (P) 95 (P) 95

State government

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4 (P) 2 (P) 2 (P) 2

Federal government

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1 (P) 1 (P) 1 (P) 1

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

To learn about careers from an industry perspective, see the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: May 01, 2009