The numbers of employed U.S. construction workers
declined by 11,000 during July, the Associated
General Contractors of America reported.
The
numbers of employed U.S. construction workers declined by 11,000 during July, the
Associated General Contractors of America said.
The drop was the third straight for the industry, and came despite billions
in federal economic stimulus funding, the association said. Overall demand for
private- or publically funded construction remains weak.
"The fact that this industry continues to suffer from
unemployment rates nearly double the national average is a reflection of how
much demand for construction has cratered in little more than two years,"
said Stephen E. Sandherr, AGC’s chief executive officer. "Worse yet,
there's every indication that as the benefits of the stimulus fade the
industry's employment picture will get even worse."
The lower number of employed workers came despite a drop in the
overall construction unemployment rate to 17.3 percent, the association added.
That likely isn’t good news: A drop in the unemployment rate at the
same time the number of available jobs is decreasing may reflect that many
unemployed workers have given up looking for work, according to labor experts.
