The nonresidential construction industry lost 16,800 jobs in February, dropping the total number of jobs in the sector to 764,400, according to a March 6 report by the U.S. Department of Labor. Since February 2008, the nonresidential construction industry has lost 78,000 jobs, or 9.3 percent of its workforce.
“For ABC members, today’s employment figures further cement the notion that commercial construction activity will continue to weaken for the foreseeable future,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Among other things, job loss diminishes demand for office, retail and other forms of space. In addition, today’s announcement, which includes sharp downward revisions in the employment situation for both December and January, makes timely and effective implementation of the stimulus package all the more important.”
Residential construction lost 15,600 jobs in February 2009 compared to January and 135,500 jobs compared to last year. Total private employment, which includes specialty trade contractors, fell by 104,000 on a monthly basis and 826,000 compared to last year.
Overall, national employment dropped by 651,000 in this short month; 1,987,000 in the past three months; and 4,168,000 on a year-over-year basis. The unemployment rate is now 8.1 percent – the highest since December 1983.
“Incredibly, the employment report could have been worse had February had more days,” Basu noted. “Last month had roughly 10 percent fewer days than January. On that basis alone, monthly job numbers can be expected to deteriorate in the months ahead. Meanwhile, over the course of February, the credit crunch actually seemed to worsen and additional wealth was lost in the financial and real estate markets.”
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