Construction’s March unemployment figures showed a mixed picture as the industry’s jobless rate fell from the year-earlier and February levels, but it also lost 1,000 jobs in the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says.
The latest BLS look at U.S. employment, released on April 3, reports that construction’s unemployment rate declined to 9.5% in March from 11.3%, year over year, and also was down from February’s 10.6%.
The BLS rates are not adjusted for seasonal variations and one sign of spring for construction is a pickup in project activity and a dip in the unemployment rate as the weather improves.
Construction economists point out that the industry's drop in jobs in March was the industry's first month-to-month decline since December 2013. BLS jobs figures are seasonally adjusted.
The BLS report shows that March job losses among residential specialty trade contractors and in heavy-civil engineering construction more than cancelled out a gain in the buildings sector.
Residential specialty trade contractors were hit hardest last month, losing 6,500 jobs. The heavy-civil sector also was down, shedding 3,900 jobs.