As the boom in building and construction throughout Australia continues, the latest figures show that employment in the sector has reached another record.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates that the seasonally adjusted number of people employed throughout the construction sector in Australia in November came in at 1.165 million – up a whopping 101,200 compared with the same time last year and yet another record high.

New South Wales added 39,400, or 11.6 per cent, of its workforce to its headcount over the past year followed by Victoria (34,500, or 13.5 per cent), Western Australia (15,900, or 12.8 per cent) and Queensland (10,400, or 4.6 per cent).

In sectors, construction services (architecture, engineering etc.) added 79,100 people, or 11.5 per cent of its workforce, whilst building construction added 32,800, or 12.1 per cent.

According to the data, the biggest gains were in civil and heavy industry construction, where employment numbers rose by 44 per cent or 26,800.

Whilst this could reflect a growing number of road and rail projects, caution should be observed when interpreting this number, as the number of workers who were unclassified dropped by 95 per cent, or 38,100.

That means part of the reported increase in civil construction jobs (and jobs in other sectors) may in fact reflect administrative changes in how the ABS classifies data.

The new numbers come amid ongoing evidence of demand for construction workers.

In trades, recruitment specialist Hays reports healthy levels of demand for carpenters, electricians, plumbers, production workers, painters, welders, excavator operators, stormwater pipelayers and HC Tipper drivers.

For professionals, Hays says there is demand for architects, engineers, forepersons, contract administrators and construction project managers.

Australia’s Construction Workforce at a Glance

• As at November 2017, the construction sector in Australia employed 1.163 million people (1.165 million after seasonal adjustments) – up from 1.063 million in November 2016.
• Of these, around 1.039 million were men whilst 123,800 were women. This means men outnumber women in the sector by a factor of 8.4 to one.
• Around 769,600 workers are employed in construction services, followed by 303,400 in building construction and 87,900 in heavy and civil engineering construction. A further 2,200 workers were not classified.
• 994,100 construction workers were employed full time whilst 169,00 were employed part-time.