Construction Hiring Shows Some Strength in September
The Labor Department’s latest job report showed hiring in an industry battered by job losses has gained some ground. According to USAToday, construction firms added 26,000 jobs nationally in September, trailing only health care, professional and business services.
Contractors added 53,000 jobs this year after losing about 150,000 last year and 2 million in the recession. Some construction industry observers said the latest gains could herald at lease a moderate turnaround next year for a sector decimated by the housing bust and commercial real estate downslide.
Other experts say a rebound is almost inevitable in 2012 for both residential and commercial building inventories, although it may not arrive until the second half of the year.
USAToday also said that job growth could suffer from reduced federal infrastructure spending, according to one source. Construction work made up more than half the fiscal 2011 budget cuts by Congress in April.
