AGC's monthly unemployment report shows that September's numbers were at their lowest point in fifteen years.

According to the report: "The number of unemployed jobseekers in September who last worked in construction totaled 479,000, the lowest figure for September since 2000. The unemployment rate for such workers was 5.5 percent, the lowest September number since 2001. Meanwhile, Census Bureau data released on October 1 showed that the growth in construction spending accelerated to a nine-year high of 13.7 percent in the latest 12 months—August 2014 to August 2015—from a 2.7 percent rate a year earlier."

That's excellent news for anyone working in the industry. However, hiring is continuing to slow, while demand still remains robust. Association officials cautioned that the hiring slowdown most likely reflects a lack of available workers that could lead to project delays unless more students and workers join the construction sector.

The industry is at a turning point in which the situation has gone from not having enough jobs to not having enough workers. Ken Simonson, AGC Chief Economist says, “The most likely explanation for these divergent trends is that the pool of unemployed workers with construction experience has evaporated. Overwhelmingly, contractors say they are having trouble finding workers to fill a variety of craft and supervisory positions.”