Construction industry unemployment rate down to 16.5 percent in August
July construction industry unemployment rate was 18.2 percent
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PrintThe construction industry unemployment shows signs of improving by recording its lowest unemployment rate in eight months. The construction industry unemployment rate stood at 16.5 percent in August 2009, this is the lowest it has been since December 2008, when the rate was 15.3 percent.
From January 2009 to July 2009, the construction industry unemployment rate was between 17.4 - 21.4 percent. The highest figure was in February 2009. And the August figure is markedly better than the July rate of 18.2 percent.
Monthly construction industry job losses
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) monthly employment reports shows that construction continued to lose jobs, shedding 65,000 in August. Monthly losses in the industry had averaged 117,000 over the 6 months ending in April and the report shows that employment in the construction industry has contracted by 1.4 million since the onset of the recession.
The BLS reports notes that starting in early 2009, the larger share of monthly job losses in the construction industry shifted from the residential to the nonresidential and heavy construction components.
Construction industry unemployment rate compared to national unemployment rate
Construction jobless rate remains well above the nation's overall rate for August, which stood at 9.6 percent on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, compared to the industry's 16.5 percent which is also a non-seasonally adjusted figure.
