Construction Employment Declines in April

Construction employment fell by 110,000 jobs in April, with losses spread throughout the sector, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Over the past six months, job losses have averaged 120,000 per month, compared with 46,000 per month from December 2007 through October 2008.

Construction comprised more than one out of five job losses in the private sector for the month and the year, even though the industry employes only one out of 20 workers. More than double the 8.6% rate in the private economy, the April unemployment rate in construction totaled 18.7%. However, average hourly earnings in construction rose 4.4%, compared to 3.2% among all private nonsupervisory or production workers.