Ned Pelger's blog on construction, design and other weirdness. Email him at ned@constructionknowledge.net
Please help him win his readership competition against his son Lex at the Construction Phone Apps Blog
CONSTRUCTION KNOWLEDGE BLOG
March 12, 2012
Construction Employment Improves for 17th Month in a Row
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Feb 2012 construction unemployment rate was 17.1%, an improvement from the 17.8% Jan 2012 rate. It’s a substantial improvement from the Feb 2011 rate of 21.8%. In fact, the report shows notable gains in construction employment in the last year across all categories. The seasonably adjusted rates are shown below (in thousands).
Type Feb 2011 Feb 2012
1. Constr of bldgs 1,141.11 1,236.3
1.1 Resid bldgs 528.0 573.1
1.2Nonresid bldgs 613.1 663.2
2. Heavy and civil 714.7 836.5
3. Specialty trades 3,192.8 3,480.8
3.1 Resid spec trades 1,328.3 1,457.6
3.2 Nonresid spec trades 1,864.5 2,023.2
Total Construction 5,049 5,554
The employment rate grew for the 17th consecutive month, which is welcome news. From the chart above, you can see that a half million construction jobs were added in the last year. An ENR article puts that news in perspective, though, noting that 2.2M construction jobs have been lost since the 2006 peak.
I don’t know what you’re seeing, but 2012 projects are coming in fast and furious for me. Seems like owners want to build while prices are still low, but demand is rising. Lots of owners seem to think the end of the Great Recession is now.
