Nearly 200,000 construction workers quit their jobs in September, the most in more than three years, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data reported by Construction Dive.
The quits rate is a standard labor-market signal: workers leave voluntarily when they're confident they can find a better job elsewhere, and a three-year high suggests contractors nationally are still competing hard for labor despite a slowdown in overall construction spending growth this year.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has launched what it calls an 'express lane' for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit multifamily construction loans, according to Construction Dive, aimed at cutting the time between financing approval and groundbreaking on affordable housing projects.
For New York contractors, the quits data is a staffing-cost signal: if skilled trades are leaving jobs voluntarily at the highest rate in three years, counter-offers and retention bonuses are already baked into competitors' overhead, and a bid that doesn't account for wage pressure on key trades — electricians, elevator mechanics, plumbers — risks coming in light. The HUD express lane matters most to anyone chasing LIHTC-financed affordable housing work in New York; a faster approval-to-closing window means shorter lead times between a developer's financing announcement and the first trade bids going out.
Contractors should watch their own crew retention numbers against this national trend and price labor contingencies accordingly on bids with long completion windows.