Construction Sector Gains Jobs But Unemployment Rate Still at Record High

 

There remain 1.9 million unemployed construction workers in the United States and this April's unemployment rate for the industry is the highest April figure since BLS began recordkeeping in 1976.

The construction sector gained 14,000 jobs in April, the second consecutive month of job growth. Construction job growth for March was revised up to 26,000 net new positions from an initial estimate of 15,000.

Despite the growth over the past two months, total construction employment of 5.625 million workers is down 9 percent from a year ago and down 27 percent from the peak in August 2006. Construction will continue to be a major factor in the health of our economy and also greatly affect the landscape industry.

While the overall unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent (seasonally adjusted) in April, the construction sector unemployment rate fell to 21.8 percent (not seasonally adjusted) from 24.9 percent in March.

Despite the sector's unemployment drop in April, it continues to have by far the largest percentage of out-of-work Americans of any industry measured by BLS.

– Courtesy of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics