Construction Employment Decreases, Again!
What goes down, must come up?
Construction employment decreased by 11,000 between June and July 2010 while the industry’s unemployment rate fell to 17.3 percent, according to a new analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of federal employment data released today. The third month of construction employment declines, despite the stimulus, reflects overall weak demand for private, local and state funded construction, association officials noted.
“The fact that this industry continues to suffer from unemployment rates nearly double the national average is a reflection of how much demand for construction has cratered in little more than two years,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer. “Worse yet, there’s every indication that as the benefits of the stimulus fade the industry’s employment picture will get even worse.”
Sandherr noted that since July 2008, construction employment has declined by a total of 1,591,000 jobs, a 22 percent decline. He added that even though the industry accounts for four percent of the non–farm workforce, it has experienced 23 percent of the total job losses over the past two years. “The sad fact is that construction workers have been forced to endure depression–like conditions for far too long.”
Full Press Release: Associated General Contractors of America
