Construction quits hit 198,000 in September, the most since early 2023

Quits are the most honest number in the labour market. Nobody resigns in bulk when jobs are scarce. So the jump in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, released on 3 November, is worth a TA leader's attention: 198,000 construction workers quit in September, up from 152,000 in August and 127,000 a year earlier.

Associated Builders and Contractors said that was the highest monthly total since the first half of 2023. "Nearly 200,000 construction workers quit their jobs in September," said ABC chief economist Anirban Basu, who read it as a sign the industry's labour supply is tightening again.

The numbers

The BLS figures (seasonally adjusted, September preliminary) moved in the same direction across the board:

Job openings: 298,000 on the last day of September, up from 262,000 in August and 206,000 a year earlier. The openings rate rose to 3.4%.

Hires: 356,000, up from 307,000 in August, a hires rate of 4.3%.

Quits rate: 2.4%, up from 1.8% in August and 1.5% a year earlier. Across all nonfarm industries the quits rate was 2.1%.

Layoffs and discharges: 138,000, down from 194,000 a year earlier. ABC said the layoff rate is lower than in any month on record before 2020.

Holding on, and still losing people

Put those together and you get an awkward picture for employers. Contractors are laying off fewer people and hiring more, yet more of their workers are walking out of the door anyway. Basu said contractors have responded to the tighter market by keeping workers they might otherwise have let go.

Not everyone is reading the quits jump the same way. Macrina Wilkins, director of market insights at the Associated General Contractors of America, told Construction Dive that "The increase in hiring is a welcome improvement, although the rate remains low by historical standards". She called the rise in quits noteworthy and suggested several possible causes, from people moving to in-demand sectors to working conditions and immigration enforcement, while pointing out that the JOLTS data don't say why people leave.

The cost side

ABC expects the shortages to push labour costs up. It also noted that more than one in four contractors in its Construction Confidence Index expect profit margins to shrink over the next six months.

Why this matters for TA

A rising quits rate is usually the first sign that counter-offers, poaching and pay jumps are about to get more common. It also means your retention numbers can move quickly, even when layoffs are low and the business feels stable. The useful response is to find out who is at risk before they resign, rather than after.