The Construction industry seasonally declined over last quarter losing 3903 employees dropping 3.1%. Particularly harsh weather in November caused losses to be greater than usual for this time of year. All sectors of Construction lost employment. Special Trades suffered the greatest loss dropping by 2114 employees. About half of the losses in Special Trades occurred in concrete work. Painting seasonally declined down 424. Misc Special Trades (179) lost 289 employees. The majority of the decline occurred in excavation work. Heavy Construction (16) dropped by 1598 employees. Highway and street construction which makes up about 30% of the employment in Heavy Construction sustained about 80% of the loss. Losses were typical resulting from weather related slow-downs but slightly stronger than usual. General Building (15) declined by 191 employees. Losses were found mainly in residential building while non-residential construction gained employees.
ANNUAL
Construction employment rose by 6.5% over fourth quarter a year ago adding 7506 employees. Special Trades (17) increased by 5484 workers. The largest subsector gains occurred in Masonry, Stonework, Tile Setting & Plastering (174) and Misc Special Trade Contractors (179) with each adding more than 1100 new employees. The category Misc Special Trade Contractors includes construction specialties such as asbestos removal , sandblasting, handyman and fencing. Electrical work and concrete work each added around 700 employees over the year. General Building (15) grew by 2216 employees. Nonresidential building generated the bulk of the annual gain up 1332 employees. Two-thirds of the increase occurred outside the Metro Denver area. Residential building added 803. Employment in Heavy Construction (16) declined over the year dropping by 194. Losses were confined to Highway & Street Construction (161) as a result of project completions and higher than normal seasonal cutbacks this year.
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