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Nonresidential Employment Drops in August09-08-15 | News

Nonresidential Employment Drops in August
Third Straight Month of Job Losses

Employment across all areas of the construction industry gained more than 3,000 jobs in the month of August, but the nonresidential segment shed 700 jobs for the month. This is the third straight monthly decline in nonresidential building employment.

The number of workers across all facets of nonresidential construction has dropped for at least the last three straight months, but it still remains up by nearly 40,000 jobs for the year.

Employment fell by 700 jobs in August, Associated Builders and Contractors said. This came after declines of 5,600 jobs in July, and 800 jobs in June.

Despite the three-month downturn, employment in the nonresidential construction industry is still up by 38,800 jobs in 2015.

Total employment in all construction sectors climbed higher in August by more than 3,000 net new jobs, an increase of less than 0.1 percent compared to July. Residential construction added 2,400 new jobs in August, while the heavy/civil engineering segment contributed 1,500 new jobs.

"The recent slide in nonresidential construction employment is likely an aberration caused by seasonal adjustments," Anirban Basu, chief economist for the Associated Builders and Contractors, said. "The first estimate of August employment tends to be low across all industries, and next month's revisions may well show job growth in nonresidential construction." Basu also said the construction industry tends to lag the broader economy, and that August was the 66th consecutive month of private-sector job growth "?u the longest streak ever.

"There's plenty of reason for optimism about the construction industry's economic health," Basu noted, especially since the nationwide unemployment rate fell in August and there were 1.5 million fewer unemployed persons, compared to July. "Employment numbers are consistent with the notion that the U.S. economy and the construction sector remain in recovery," Basu said.

Unemployment in the construction industry added 0.6 percentage points in August and now stands at 6.1 percent. "This is a sizable increase from July's eight-year low, though it's not necessarily a bad sign for an industry that has been plagued by labor shortages," Basu said. "The unemployment rate across all industries shed 0.2 percentage points, reaching a seven-year low of 5.1 percent."

Employment in the area of nonresidential buildings fell by 1,600 jobs for the month, but is up by 15,500 jobs or 2.2 percent since August 2014.

Residential building employment expanded by 200 jobs in August. It is up by 27,000 jobs or 4 percent on a year-to-year basis.

The heavy and civil engineering construction segment added 1,500 jobs in August. Employment is up by 32,800 positions or 3.6 percent annually.

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