US Construction Unemployment Plummets
Announcement posted by DesignBuild Source 09 Jul 2012
Unemployment in the United States construction industry has plummeted and is now far lower than it was one year ago, the latest data suggests.
Despite moderate job growth in June, however, the nation’s construction labour market remains flat and the decline in unemployment largely represents a contraction of the construction labour force.
Data from the US Census Bureau indicates that unemployment in the construction industry plummeted from 14.2 per cent in May to 12.8 per cent last month.
Overall, the number of unemployed construction workers now stands at 1.04 million – down from 1.32 million at the same time last year when the unemployment rate stood at 15.6 per cent.
While part of the fall, at least in June, can be attributed to the addition of 2,000 jobs during the month, the bulk of this drop represents workers leaving the industry. One year ago, the overall size of the US construction workforce was 8.46 billion; now that figure stands at just 8.12 billion.
Indeed, compared with pre-GFC levels, the number of jobs available in the industry is down by almost half in residential construction and around one-fifth in non-residential construction.