The construction industry unemployment rate fell to 13.6% in July, from 17.3% in the same year-ago period, according to recently released analysis of federal employment data by the Associated General Contractors of America. The number of unemployed people who previously worked in construction shrank by nearly 400,000 in the same time period, says Ken Simonson, chief economist at AGCA, Arlington, VA. However, the July 2011 employment total of 5,532,000 was only 32,000 higher than in July 2010, he says.
"It is encouraging that the construction industry has added 54,000 jobs, or 1 percent, since hitting bottom last January," Simonson says. "However, unemployed workers are leaving the industry at seven times the rate they are finding jobs in it, which suggests future expansion will be hard to achieve."