Construction Unemployment--Construction Unemployment in September Bumps Up to 17.2 Percent

In a sign that the nation’s builders continue to struggle, the unemployment rate for the construction industry rose to 17.2 percent in September, up from 17 percent in August and 17.1 percent from one year ago, according to the October 8 employment report by the U.S. Labor Department. The construction industry lost 21,000 jobs in September while still gaining 8,000 jobs for the quarter due to a 31,000 job increase in August. Over the past twelve months, the industry has lost 210,000 jobs or 3.6 percent.

“The Labor Department’s jobs report for September reaffirmed the established pattern of overall job loss in the public sector in contrast with private sector employment growth,” said Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “For the ninth consecutive month, the private sector added jobs, roughly an average of 95,000 per month. Compare that to the 159,000 public jobs that were shed in September, of which 83,000 jobs were lost in state and local government.”

In contrast, nonresidential building construction gained 1,600 jobs in September. For the third quarter, nonresidential building construction employment gained 3,900 jobs. However, on a year-over-year basis, the subsector has lost 17,200 jobs, or 2.4 percent, as nonresidential building construction employment stood at 686,600 in September.

Total employment across all industries was down 95,000 in September marking the fourth straight monthly loss as employment shrank by 393,000 jobs from June through September. Year-over-year, total employment is up by 344,000 jobs or 0.3 percent. Private sector employment increased by 64,000 jobs in September, 274,000 in the third quarter, and 593,000 over the last twelve months. Still, 14.8 million people are out of work as the national unemployment rate in September remained flat at 9.6 percent.

Source: CE Unbound