When the national employment numbers for December came out last week, the net number of construction jobs was up, but so was the jobless rate in the industry – compared to November, that is.

Anirban Basu, chief economist for Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., is seeing all good news in the data

"For all of 2011, the construction industry added 46,000 jobs (0.8 percent) – representing the best industry performance since January 2007," Basu wrote on ABC's website. "The average annual construction unemployment rate in 2011 was 16.4 percent, down from 20.6 percent in 2010 and 19 percent in 2009."

In Friday's numbers, construction accounted for 17,000 of 200,000 jobs added last month. The national unemployment rate went from 8.6 percent to 8.5 percent, but the industry rate went from 13.1 percent in November to 16 percent.

What's mostly behind the December number is seasonal factors, Basu said in analyzing the figures. The higher unemployment rate "should not be interpreted as evidence of industry decline."

While he cautioned that part of the national unemployment reduction is due to a shrinking workforce, perhaps from people simply giving up, "The construction labor market enters the new year with more momentum than has been the case since at least 2007. While major economic headwinds remain, including elevated levels of distressed properties and disciplined lending, the worst appears to be behind the U.S. construction industry."