June Construction Unemployment Rates Improve in 47 States from 2015

by Jonathan McGaha | July 31, 2016 12:00 am

June not seasonally adjusted (NSA)
construction unemployment rates improved in 47 states and the nation on a
year-over-year basis according to analysis released today by Associated Builders and Contractors[1] (ABC). The national construction unemployment rate of 4.6 percent was 1.7 percent lower than a year ago according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics[2] (BLS). Further, the industry boasted its lowest June rate since 2000 when it matched this June’s 4.6 percent rate. BLS data also showed that the industry employed 229,000 more people than in June 2015.

“The drop in the construction unemployment rate from June 2015 extends the uninterrupted monthly sequence of year-over-year rate decreases that started in October 2010,” said economist Bernard M. Markstein, Ph.D., president and chief economist of Markstein Advisors, who conducted the analysis for ABC. “Starting in 2000, when the BLS data for this series begins, the June national NSA construction unemployment rate has fallen from May every year except 2010 when it was unchanged. This is not surprising given that this is not seasonally adjusted data and that construction activity normally continues to rise nationwide as the weather improves throughout the country. This year’s decrease of 0.6 percent from May continues this pattern.”

Four states-Connecticut, Hawaii, Mississippi and Wyoming-posted an increase in their estimated
construction unemployment rate from May (Hawaii’s rate includes mining and logging in addition to construction). Three states-North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming-saw their construction unemployment rate increase from June a year ago. Both Wyoming’s monthly and year-over-year increases were small, up 0.1 percent. For the second month in a row, all states had construction unemployment rates under 10 percent. The last time that occurred in June was in 2005.

View states ranked by their construction unemployment rate[3],
their year-over-year improvement in construction employment and
monthly improvement in construction employment.

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/news/industry-news/june-construction-unemployment-rates-improve-in-47-states-from-2015/

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