Construction employment tumbles

Employment in the Rhode Island construction industry slipped 11.3 percent in January compared with a year earlier, the Associated General Contractors of America reported this week.
Using federal employment data, the association said the industry shed 2,100 jobs compared with January 2009. The industry’s January job count of 16,500 jobs also was a 2.4 percent decline from December, when the total stood at 16,900 jobs.
Across the border in Massachusetts, employment in construction fell 16.7 percent in January from 2009 and 3.8 percent from the prior month. The association said the industry employed 101,600 people in the Bay State in January.
Nationally, construction employment fell in every state except Alaska, North Dakota and Washington, D.C., compared with the previous January.
The largest losses were in Nevada (30 percent), Arizona (26 percent), Colorado (22 percent), Idaho (21 percent) and Florida (20 percent).