Construction employment fell in May by 28,000, the largest decline in two years, and is now at the lowest level since last August, according to an analysis of new federal data by Associated General Contractors.
The drop in construction employment comes as new figures show a 1.4% percent decrease in public construction spending restrained overall construction activity growth to 0.3%.
“With construction employment shrinking for the fourth month in a row, the industry is clearly having a difficult start to the year,” said “In particular, cuts to public sector investments in construction are taking their toll, given that heavy and civil engineering construction experienced the largest employment decline within the sector.”
Total construction employment now stands at 5,516,000, or 0.5% lower than a month earlier but 18,000 higher (0.3%) than in May 2011, Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist, said. The industry’s unemployment rate is at 14.2%, nearly double the national average. He added that overall construction employment is still far below its peak level of 7,726,000 in April 2006.
The nonresidential construction sector lost 17,400 construction jobs in May, Simonson noted. Heavy and civil engineering construction firms – which perform a large share of publicly funded construction work – shed 11,200 jobs, while nonresidential specialty trade contractors lost another 7,700.
Nonresidential building contractors added 1,500 for the month. Residential construction lost 11,000 total jobs as residential specialty-trade contractors shed 10,000 jobs and residential builders lost 1,000 positions in May.
