Construction industry increased by 51,000 jobs in December, the Associated General Contractors of America reports. Residential building and specialty trade contractors have now recouped all the employment losses incurred from the coronavirus outbreak.
Employment grew in both residential and nonresidential sectors in December. The growth brought construction employment to 7,413,000 in December, a 0.7% increase from November. Construction employment remains down by 3.0% (or 226,000) compared with its most recent peak in February 2020, according to AGC. Nonresidential construction continues to be the most severely impacted by employment losses.
Unemployment in construction climbed to 9.6% in December compared with 5.0 in December 2019.
An AGC survey found “widespread pessimism” among contractors regarding the volume of work available in 2021.
“December’s employment gains likely reflect milder weather than usual for the month rather than sustained demand for projects,” AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson said in a statement. “In fact, our survey found contractors expect the volume of work is likely to decline for nearly all nonresidential project types, and most firms have experienced project cancellations or postponements.”
The full AGC report can be found here.
