Construction employment by state slowed in May, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released Friday. Only 19 states posted seasonally adjusted increases from April, while 20 had declines, and 11 plus the District of Columbia were unchanged. The month before, 37 states and DC had monthly gains. However, the apparent slowdown may reflect special factors or quirks in seasonal adjustment rather than an actual change. The national gain that BLS reported two weeks ago, 20,000, was triple the net gain among the individual states, and the May 2004-May 2005 tally of states showed 44 with gains and only four states (Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and South Carolina) and DC with losses. As usual, the largest year-over-year percentage gains were in Nevada, (16%), Arizona (11%), Hawaii, Idaho, and Utah (10% each).
Construction has the strongest employment outlook in the third quarter, according to the quarterly survey of 16,000 employers' hiring plans released on Wednesday by Manpower Inc. Construction “employers are slightly more confident about adding staff than they were last quarter, and the employment outlook shows solid improvement from a year ago. Employers in the West are most likely to welcome job seekers, while those in the Midwest report decidedly less optimistic hiring plans.” In the Northeast, “Compared with last year at this time, construction employers are considerably more upbeat about hiring,” while most sectors in the South, including construction, are more confident about hiring. Manpower's chairman and CEO, Jeffrey Joerres, said the outlook for construction jobs was at its highest level since 1984, the Wall Street Journal reported.