CONSTRUCTION UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HITS 27.1 PERCENT AS ANOTHER 64,000 CONSTRUCTION WORKERS LOST JOBS IN FEBRUARY 2010

With Nearly 2 Million Construction Jobs Lost Since December 2007, Construction Sector Continues to Drag Down Overall Employment Figures 

The construction unemployment rate jumped to 27.1 percent and construction employment dropped to a 14-year low as another 64,000 construction workers lost jobs in February, according to federal employment figures released today.  The economy would have added jobs for the third time in four months had it not been for the declines in construction employment, the Associated General Contractors of America noted. 

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Construction spending fell in January to $884 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, down 0.6% from December, down 9.3% from January 2009 and the lowest rate since June 2003, the Census Bureau reported today. November and December totals were revised down by 1.4% each, and the 2009 total, $937 billion, was 13% below the 2008 level. Private nonresidential spending shriveled 2.1% for the month and 20% compared to January 2009. Of 11 segments, only power construction rose (0.7% and 16%, respectively). The next largest segment, manufacturing, fell 4.8% and 29%. Commercial (retail, warehouse and farm) construction tumbled 0.5% and 34%; health care, -0.5% and -11%; office, -1.6% and -34%; communication, -6.0% and -9.9%; and lodging, -9.8% and -46%. Public construction continued to post a year-over-year gain, 2.1%, but dropped 0.7% for the month. The largest public segments had mixed results: highway and street, 1.2% and 5.5%; educational, 0.0% and -6.2%; transportation (transit, rail, airports, ports), -0.3% and 18%; and sewage and waste disposal, -3.0% and 1.8%. Private residential investment climbed 1.3% for the month and narrowed the year-to-year decline to 6.4%. The gains came entirely from the volatile "improvements" segment (4.7% and 11%); new single-family construction dipped after seven straight gains (-0.2% and -8.6%); and new multifamily plunged for the 10th month in a row (-11% and -52%).

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CONSTRUCTION SPENDING FALLS TO LOWEST LEVEL IN SEVEN YEARS, DRIVEN BY NONRESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC CONSTRUCTION DECLINES

Federal Construction Investments are Lone Bright Spot in Latest Spending Report, Yet Good News is Offset By 'Disruptive' Expiration of Federal Transportation Program

Construction spending in January fell by $5.5 billion to $884 billion, its lowest level since June 2003, according to an analysis of new federal figures by the Associated General Contractors of America.  Declining investments in private-sector non-residential construction and public construction at all levels of government drove the 0.6 percent decline, the association's chief economist Ken Simonson noted.

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