Construction employment drops in Prov. metro area in May

THE PROVIDENCE-Fall River-Warwick metropolitan area lost 800 construction jobs in May, a 4 percent decline, compared with May 2014, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. / COURTESY ASSOCIATED GENERAL CONTRACTORS OF AMERICA
THE PROVIDENCE-Fall River-Warwick metropolitan area lost 800 construction jobs in May, a 4 percent decline, compared with May 2014, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. / COURTESY ASSOCIATED GENERAL CONTRACTORS OF AMERICA

PROVIDENCE – The Providence-Fall River-Warwick metropolitan area lost 800 construction jobs in May, a 4 percent decline year over year, according to the Associated General Contractors of America.

The number of construction jobs totaled 20,600 in May from 21,400 a year ago in the Providence metro. It was one of 101 metropolitan areas that saw construction employment decline year over year in May. Two hundred and five metro areas experienced job increases, while 52 were stagnant, the association said.

The Providence metro’s 4 percent construction employment drop ranked it 299th among the 358 metropolitan areas, the association said.

The largest percentage gains occurred in Wenatchee, Wash. (30 percent, 600 jobs), and Bellingham, Wash. (23 percent, 1,300 jobs).

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Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash., added the largest number of construction jobs in the past year (11,300 jobs, 15 percent), followed by Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo. (10,400 jobs, 12 percent).

The largest percentage decline for the past year was in Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, Miss., at 25 percent and 2,600 jobs, followed by Santa Fe, N.M. (-19 percent, -500 jobs). The largest job losses from May 2014 to May 2015 were in New Orleans-Metairie, La. (-3,200 jobs, -10 percent), and Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, Miss.

Association officials noted even though the majority of metro areas are still adding construction jobs, the number of gainers has dipped to the lowest level since April 2013.
“Although contractors are continuing to add workers in many parts of the country, construction employment stagnated or shrank in nearly half of all metro areas over the past year,” Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist, said in a statement.

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