Nonfarm payroll employment surged 262,000, seasonally adjusted, in February, nearly double the average gain for the three previous months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. BLS noted, “Construction employment rose by 30,000 in February” to a record 7,116,000. “This followed no change in January, when unusually severe weather conditions in some areas of the country limited construction activity. Since its most recent low point in March 2003, the industry has added 458,000 jobs. Employment growth among residential specialty trade contractors (16,000) and residential builders (5,000) accounted for the bulk of February's gain.” Over the past 12 months, growth has occurred in all five of BLS's construction subgroups: 68,000 (8%) in residential building, 77,000 (4%) in residential specialty trades, 32,000 (4%) in nonresidential building, 84,000 (4%) in nonresidential specialty trades, and 14,000 (2%) in heavy and civil engineering, for a total gain of 275,000 (4%). Yet average hourly earnings in construction have risen just 0.7% in the past 12 months, to $19.34 in February, seasonally adjusted, vs. a 2.5% increase (to $15.90) in average earnings for all nonsupervisory or production workers. This suggests the supply of construction labor is still plentiful. BLS also cited “sizable increases” in architectural and engineering services, a favorable omen for future construction.
The value of construction put in place rose 0.7% in January to $1.047 trillion to a seasonally adjusted annual rate, but not adjusted for inflation, following a 1.2% increase (revised from an initial 1.1%) in December, the Census Bureau reported on Tuesday. The 2004 total was revised up to an even $1 trillion. The January total was the 12th straight record. Relative to December 2004 and January 2004, respectively, private nonresidential construction rose 1.2% and 10%, public construction moved up 0.8% and 8.5%, and private residential construction, the subsector most vulnerable to harsh weather, climbed 0.4% and 12%.