AGC: Construction unemployment reaches 19.2%

Building Design and Construction
June 5, 2009

Unemployment in the construction sector climbed to a “horrendous” 19.2 percent (not-seasonally adjusted) as an additional 59,000 construction workers lost their jobs in May according to new federal data, said construction economist Ken Simonson today.


Simonson, who discussed the significance of the new jobs data during a media conference call with contractors from across the country, said that construction employment has declined by 990,000 jobs, or 14 percent, in the past year while overall nonfarm employment has declined by 4 percent.


“Construction continues to bear a disproportionate share of the pain from the recession,” Simonson, the chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, said. “Simply put, the unemployment rate for construction in May was horrendous.”


Simonson said that the construction employment figures would likely have been worse if not for the stimulus. “The stimulus is doing its job putting men and women back to work,” and, “It is boosting opportunity and generating economic activity in an increasingly broad geographic area.”

Read Simonson's remarks at: http://www.agc.org/galleries/news/May%20Jobs%20Remarks.pdf.

Building Permits Doink (Chart)

BUILDING PERMITS

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 513,000.

This is 9.0 percent (±4.1%) below the revised February rate of 564,000 and is 45.0 percent (±4.1%) below the March 2008 estimate of932,000.


Single-family authorizations in March were at a rate of 361,000; this is 7.4 percent (±3.5%) below the revised February figure of390,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 132,000 in March.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AllAmericanInvestor/~3/JLS4egmN9JI/building-permits-doink-chart.html

TML - If we could have the growth we had from 1992 to 2007 all over again, that would be nice.