Construction Employment Rates Reach 15-Month High

Although construction jobs rose by 8,000 in July, according to the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), the employment rates still remain well below the peak reached in early 2006. Ken Simpson, the association’s chief economist, noted that public sector jobs—those primarily gained from federal stimulus programs, Gulf Coast reconstruction, and military contracts—declined for the third straight month while private commercial projects such as hospitals and factories added more than 10,000 positions. Residential construction and specialty trades, however, lost 1,600 jobs in July. The construction industry overall has added 54,000 jobs since January 2010, but Simpson points out that “unemployed workers are leaving the industry at seven times the rate they are finding jobs in it.” He predicts that until single-family building recovers more aggressively and consistently, the overall construction employment rate will remain sluggish. Click here for more reports from the AGC, or here to read more details on custom residential construction trends.