Good morning. The hiring market you are competing in is not the one you have been reading about.
Top story — Construction is the outlier in a cooling labor market
Total job openings across the economy fell by 178,000 in June, to 7.4 million, and the openings rate slipped to 4.4% (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, June 2026, released 4 August 2026).
Construction went the other way. Construction job openings rose by 14,000 to 305,000, against 224,000 in June last year. That is a rise of about 36% in twelve months, in a month when private-sector openings overall fell by 187,000 (BLS).
The rate says the same thing. Construction’s job openings rate reached 3.5% in June, up from 2.6% a year earlier, and it has climbed in every month since March (BLS).
Quick hits
Nobody is quitting. Quits held at 3.2 million and a 2.0% rate across the economy, unchanged on the month (BLS).
Layoffs are not the story either. Layoffs and discharges were unchanged at 1.8 million, a rate of 1.1% (BLS).
Mind the revision. May’s openings were revised down by 57,000 to 7.5 million, so June’s fall came off a slightly lower base (BLS).
The Tip — Price the people you cannot replace
If openings in your trade are rising while quits stay flat, two things are true at once. The people you have are staying put, and the people you still need are being bid for by everyone else. The cost of your next hire is moving faster than the cost of your current crew.
Do one thing this month. Benchmark what you pay your best two field staff against what your competitors are advertising right now, not against what you paid last year. Then decide deliberately whether you close the gap or carry the risk. Losing a lead hand in September costs more than the raise would have.
Tool watch — [Not sponsored]
Your competitors’ job ads are a free wage survey. Save the three closest listings in your area each month and track the advertised range. It takes ten minutes and it is the only pay data that reflects the market you actually hire in.
That’s the callout. See you next time.
The Callout — the business brief for the trades. We label every commercial placement: [Sponsor], [Affiliate], or [Not sponsored]. Today’s Tool watch is our own honest read — no one paid for it. 231J Ramparts Road, Te Anau 9600, New Zealand · Unsubscribe anytime.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, June 2026 (USDL-26-1289), released 4 August 2026, summary and Table 1.