Construction Industry Adds 5,000 Jobs Between March and April; Sector's Unemployment Rate Falls to 17.8 Percent

Association officials said the figures continue a year-long trend of little change in construction employment after years of steep declines and predicted the stagnation is unlikely to change soon.

"The construction industry may have stopped bleeding jobs, but there is no sign that employment levels are set to bounce back," says Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. "With declines in public sector investments likely to offset increases in some private sector construction activity, we are unlikely to see significant increases in construction employment for the foreseeable future."

Simonson says the nonresidential construction sectors added 10,000 jobs in April, while the residential sector lost 5,400 jobs. The largest gains came from the heavy and civil engineering construction, likely reflecting the start of construction on a number of stimulus and other publicly funded projects that halted during the winter. Meanwhile, employment declined in both the nonresidential specialty trade contractors and the nonresidential building categories, possibly reflecting weak demand for office, retail and school construction.

Association officials said that construction employment is likely to remain relatively stagnant through much of 2011 as federal, state and local governments cut investments in infrastructure and other construction projects. They said that expected increases in multifamily, manufacturing and power construction would help offset the public sector declines, but might not be enough to lead to significant increases in construction employment.