The US construction unemployment rate fell to 9.5 percent in March, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials noted that declining demand for residential and public sector projects offset gains in other areas to contribute to the overall month job losses.
“After 14 months of steady job gains, construction employment suffered in March,” said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. “Except for multifamily construction, home building remains weak and government officials just can’t seem to find a way to pay for needed repairs to a host of aging facilities.”
Construction employment totaled 6,344,000 in March, compared to 6,345,000 in February and 6,062,000 in March 2014, Simonson noted. Residential building and specialty trade contractors lost 2,800 jobs (-0.1 percent) since February but added 136,300 jobs (6.0 percent) over 12 months. Within the residential sector, however, results were split, with residential building contractors adding 3,700 jobs for the month while residential specialty trade contractors lost 6,500 jobs compared to February.
Nonresidential contractors—building, specialty trade, and heavy and civil engineering construction firms—hired a net of 1,100 workers for the month and 145,000 (3.8 percent) since March 2014. As with the residential sector, the nonresidential employment sector varied by segment. The nonresidential and specialty trade contractors and nonresidential building contractors added a combined 5,000 jobs for the month. But heavy and civil engineering contractors—who typically perform public sector projects like highway construction—lost 3,900 jobs since February.
“The threat of funding cuts for needed public infrastructure will continue to impact firms’ ability to add more employees to the payroll,” Simonson added.