Employment in the Construction Industry Declines in February

The construction industry dealt with a loss of about 13,000 jobs within the months of January through February. And, while this may seem grim, the construction industry still managed to do well for the entire year, having many job increases over the span of several months. This information was recently released by the Associated General Contractors of America. It is believed that the cause of the decline for the months of January through February was based predominantly on the weather. In the meantime, the construction industry seems to be doing rather well and many people are having high hopes about what is to come.

The association’s chief economist, Ken Simonson, believes that the decline is nothing too serious and that people, particularly construction workers, should not be concerned by the slight decline in jobs. He believes that it was due to the weather and the different types of weather conditions that occur in those winter months. He believes that an increase of jobs will continue, as the industry managed to add nearly 47,000 jobs within the two months prior to the decline. Once the winter is over, it is believed that the amount of construction jobs available will continue to increase.

Construction employment is still higher during this February than it was in February of 2011 which is, yet again, a great sign. Construction employment has been higher this year than it was at the same exact time in the previous year. The construction unemployment rate is still higher than the average unemployment rate but progress is being made. It seems construction workers and the construction industry were hit the hardest by the recession and finally, the industry is beginning to pick up the pace. Even slow yet steady progress is better than no progress at all.

In the beginning of 2006, there were 2.2 million construction jobs that were lost. It definitely seems as if the worst has finally passed. The officials for the association say that there are plenty of reasons for the increase in construction jobs. For starters, there has been a lot of increase when it comes to private sector construction. And, because the recovery is going on after such a terrible recession, many people are finally choosing to have their homes remodeled or built, which gives construction workers more jobs and more overall opportunities.

Many are excited that the construction industry is finally picking up. And, because the industry is finally picking up, there is so much proof that the economy in the United States is finally beginning to get better. With construction being the employment sector that happened to be hit the hardest, if there are signs of improvement within this sector, there are signs of recovery for the entire United States economy as a whole.