Construction Labor Productivity

• Single-family residential construction
• Multiple-family residential construction
• Industrial building construction
• Highway, street, and bridge construction

In the residential construction industries, productivity trended downward over the 2007-19 period. Since then, productivity has increased in both single-family and multiple-family residential construction over the 2019-25 period. For industrial building construction, productivity had increased slightly over the 2007-19 period, but grew significantly from 2019-25. Productivity in highway, street, and bridge construction was almost flat over the 2007-19 period then declined over the 2019-25 period. 

Industrial building construction had the largest gain in productivity among the four construction industries over the 2019-25 period. Highway, street, and bridge construction had the greatest loss in productivity over the same period.
 
 

Single-Family Residential Construction (NAICS 236115x)

New housing for-sale builders (NAICS 236117) includes both single- and multiple-family homes. BLS combines the single-family portion of NAICS 236117 (98 percent) with the entire new single-family housing construction industry (NAICS 236115) to form a combination industry: single-family residential construction (NAICS 236115x).

Chart 5 depicts the trends in output, hours worked, and labor productivity for single-family residential construction (NAICS 236115x).
 
 

Productivity rose during the 2000-05 period, primarily driven by a large increase in output. Starting in 2005, output fell through 2009 at a considerably faster rate than hours worked, leading to a sharp decline in productivity over the interval. These years correspond with the collapse of the housing market. Productivity grew from 2009 to 2013 but then decreased slowly through 2019.

Over the 2020-25 period, productivity trends in single-family construction fluctuated. Productivity rose in 2020 and 2021, declined in 2022 and 2023, rose again in 2024, and declined in 2025. The productivity decrease of 4.5 percent in 2025 followed a decline in output of 4.3 percent while growth in hours worked held relatively steady at 0.2 percent. 
 
 

Multiple-Family Residential Construction (NAICS 236116x)

Similar to single-family residential construction, BLS combines all new multiple-family housing construction (NAICS 236116) with the multiple-family portion (2 percent) of new housing for-sale builders (NAICS 236117) to form the new multiple-family residential construction industry (NAICS 236116x).

Chart 6 reveals the productivity, output, and hours worked trends from 1987 to 2025.
 

Multiple-family housing construction (NAICS 236116x) had large gains in labor productivity from 1993 to 2007 as output increased far faster than hours worked. The industry then saw a sharp decrease in output and a moderate drop in hours worked leading to decreasing productivity until 2010. From 2010 to 2015, output rebounded substantially, driving significant productivity growth. However, productivity plunged from 2016 to 2018 due to growth in hours worked outpacing growth in output. Productivity rose from 2019 through 2023 as output increased faster than hours worked.

In 2024 productivity fell by 7.1 percent as output declined more sharply than hours worked. Similarly in 2025, productivity dropped by 7.4 percent, with output falling 12.4 percent and hours worked decreasing 5.4 percent.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’ National Income and Product Accounts price deflator used in the output calculations for NAICS 236116x is not currently available for 2025. In the interim, the series was extended using the Census Bureau’s price index for multi-family houses under construction which tracks closely with the standard deflator.
 
 

Industrial Building Construction (NAICS 236210)

Chart 7 illustrates that the industrial building construction industry (NAICS 236210) had a large productivity gain from 2006 to 2024, then declined in 2025. 

Both productivity and output rose until 2009, then fell sharply following the 2007-09 recession, recovered from 2011 to 2015, and then declined again through 2018. The change in hours worked was slow and uneven, but positive over the 2006-18 period. Over the 2019 to 2022 period productivity, on average, grew as output rose and hours worked fell.

In 2023, productivity grew at a series record of 45.8 percent due to output increasing by a record 49.4 percent while hours increased by a modest 2.5 percent. In 2024, productivity grew 21.1 percent due to output increasing by 21.0 percent while hours declined slightly. In 2025, output declined by 13.2 percent and hours declined by 1.2 percent. This led to a productivity decline of 12.1 percent.
 
 
 

Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction (NAICS 237310)

Chart 8 indicates that, like industrial building construction, productivity in the highway, street, and bridge construction industry (NAICS 237310) increased during the 2007-09 recession. Output rose as hours worked declined during this period. Then, through 2019, productivity fell most years as output slightly declined while hours worked had net growth. Productivity rose in 2020 as output increased and hours worked fell.

From 2021 through 2025, productivity declined every year, with differing dynamics between output and hours throughout the period. In 2024, output declined 1.1 percent while hours worked rose 2.6 percent. Productivity declined once again in 2025, falling 1.8 percent as a 0.9‑percent drop in output coincided with an equivalent increase in hours worked.
 
 

Questions and Answers

• What are the challenges in measuring productivity growth in construction? ▸
  • Productivity is difficult to measure for construction industries because of challenges in measuring both output and hours worked. The main challenge to measuring output is that construction projects differ widely in characteristics and features. For example, a 2,000 square foot single-family residence could differ based on quality of materials used, region of country, and the nature of the underlying terrain. Consequently, it is difficult to develop reliable output price deflators to convert observed revenues into constant dollar measures of output growth. For hours worked, there are two potential measurement limitations. First, the omission of some undocumented immigrants could understate hours worked. Second, subcontractors are not classified in the industry in which they ultimately perform work.
• Do these measures of hours worked include labor obtained from subcontractors?▸
  • These measures do not include work done by subcontractors. Many builders use specialized subcontractor labor, such as plumbers or carpenters, to supplement or replace their own labor force. The services of subcontractors would normally be included as purchases of materials inputs, much as any other firm purchases necessary inputs from its suppliers. Since the present analysis considers only labor productivity growth, it does not account for materials inputs. The Monthly Labor Review article examines productivity trends if subcontractors are included in official measures. The findings show that estimates of labor productivity growth are typically lower, often by substantial margins, when labor inputs includes hours worked obtained from subcontractors.
• Do these measures of hours worked include labor obtained from undocumented laborers?▸
  • It is likely that at least some undocumented laborers are included in official measures of employment. However, if these laborers work off the books then they may not be included in measures of labor hours. For purposes of productivity growth, the important factor is not the level of unmeasured undocumented laborers, but rather how that level has changed over time. Previous research has found that not capturing all undocumented laborers has a minimal impact on the measurement of productivity growth.
• Do you have productivity measures for the construction sector as a whole?▸
  • Yes. The BLS Productivity Program publishes labor and total factor productivity measures for all sectors, including construction. These measures for construction are at the 2-digit NAICS level, while the four newly developed construction industries highlighted here are at the 6-digit NAICS level. Output and input measures for 2-digit and 3-digit nonmanufacturing sectors are often difficult to measure and can produce productivity measures of inconsistent quality. Data users should be cautious when interpreting the data. See the major industries total factor productivity data table.
• Do you have productivity measures for other specific construction industries?▸
  • Not yet. BLS plans to explore the creation of productivity measures for additional construction industries by utilizing establishment level microdata from the U.S. Census Bureau. The microdata may make it possible to create measures for at least seven additional industries including warehouses, schools, offices, and several contractor industries. The four industries examined here are those for which data are currently available. The availability of deflators also determines the period of time over which productivity can be studied for different industries.

Related Resources

Industries at a Glance: Construction NAICS 23

Notes

Last Modified Date: September 28, 2026