Construction unemployment reached a September high of 17.2% this year, according to an analysis of federal employment figures released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. The construction industry continues to suffer from declining investments in construction and broad uncertainty about the future of many federal infrastructure programs and tax rates, association officials noted.

"It has taken less than four years to erase a decade's worth of job gains as the industry suffers from declining private, state, and local construction demand," said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. "No other sector of the economy has suffered as much for as long as construction."

Simonson noted that the 5.6 million people working in construction today is barely higher than the 5.59 million people who were working in construction in August 1996. He added that construction employment continues to lag behind other sectors of the economy. For example, while total private employment rose by 593,000 during the past 12 months, the construction industry lost 210,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the industry's unemployment rate is nearly double the seasonally unadjusted national rate of 9.2%.

Most of September's construction job losses came from the nonresidential sector as demand for commercial facilities and infrastructure projects remains weak, Simonson noted. Residential construction lost 2,500 jobs last month, while nonresidential construction lost 18,100 jobs.

Association officials noted that construction spending figures released late last month show private, state, and local construction spending continues to decline.

While temporary federal programs such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 have helped the industry, many contractors are reluctant to expand payrolls while long-term federal programs that fund highway, transit, water system, and aviation construction remain in limbo, association officials said.

"Construction firms aren't going to start hiring again until they can predict how busy they'll be," said Stephen Sandherr, AGC's CEO.