“The economic slowdown during the spring and summer of last year caused many projects to be put on hold and resulted in diminished construction momentum.” —ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu.
The construction industry lost 7,000 jobs in March, inching the unemployment rate up to 17.2 percent from 17.1 percent in February, according to the April 6 Department of Labor employment report. Year over year, construction industry unemployment is down compared to the March 2011 rate of 20 percent. The industry added 55,000 jobs over the past 12 months.
Excerpt from ABC Construction Economic Update, April 6, 2012