Construction employment decreases in March

Construction employment was affected by the COVID-19 crisis in March, decreasing by 29,000 jobs following an increase of 42,000 jobs in February, according to www.abc.org.

The construction unemployment rate was 6.9% in March compared with 5.5% in February. The national unemployment rate for all industries rose from 3.5% to 4.4%.

All three nonresidential segments registered job losses, with the largest decrease experienced in nonresidential building (-10,700), followed by heavy and civil engineering (-10,200) and nonresidential specialty trade (-3,700).

“So ends the lengthiest expansion in American economic history,” said Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The expansion was associated with dramatic asset price increases, multi-decade lows in unemployment, persistently low costs of capital and a thriving U.S. nonresidential construction sector. While the March jobs report is horrific, ending a 113-month streak of employment gains, it is clear that employment reports in future months are likely to be even worse.

“What remains unclear is the extent to which estimated construction employment declines are due to mandated suspension of projects in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, California and elsewhere, and how much of this is due to the emergence of recessionary forces,” Basu continued. “Generally, nonresidential construction is one of the last segments of the economy to enter recession as contractors continue to work down their collective backlog, which stood at 8.9 months in ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator. The need for social distancing renders that statistic less pertinent, meaning that nonresidential construction is susceptible to large-scale job losses immediately.”

Basu said when examining the current and potential effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the economy, the situation should be viewed as unique.

“While the recently passed stimulus package is massive and helps support the payments side of the economy, economic recovery will remain elusive until the COVID-19-engendered crisis is behind us,” Basu said. “While that is obvious, many people are still looking to compare the current crisis to other episodes in American history, including the Great Recession. As a practical matter, this period defies comparison, and must be understood on its own. Based on what is known, the downturn will be vicious. The good news is that this crisis may finally induce policymakers to fashion and implement a long-awaited infrastructure stimulus package.”

Date : Jan. 01, 0001

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