As construction’s winter slowdown began, the industry’s unemployment rate worsened in December to 16% from 13.1% in November. But the industry did add 17,000 jobs last month, and its December rate was much improved over the December 2011 mark of 20.7%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
Those BLS industry-specific rates are not adjusted for seasonal swings. Jobless rates for the highly seasonal construction industry tend to climb in winter months, when the volume of projects dips.