Construction cuts more workers

Reflecting the national trend, non-residential building construction lost 3,200 jobs in October, according to the Nov. 6 employment report by the U.S. Labor Department. On a year-over-year basis, non-residential building construction employment is down 107,900 jobs, or 13.3 percent, and now stands at 706,400.

Employment with non-residential specialty trade contractors continues to get hit the hardest with 30,200 jobs lost in October and 441,000 jobs, or 17.4 percent, lost since Oct. 2008. In the heavy and civil engineering construction sector, employment decreased by 13,700 for the month and 129,400 jobs, or 12.6 percent, on a year-over-year basis.

Over the past 12 months, total construction employment has shrunk by 15.6 percent losing 1,100,000 jobs, with 62,000 jobs lost last month alone.

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