R.I. construction employment slips

PROVIDENCE – Construction employment in Rhode Island slid 3.7 percent in March compared with the same month last year, the Associated General Contractors of America said this week.
The trade association said the industry employed 15,500 people in March, down from 16,100 the March prior. Rhode Island was one of 33 states to see construction employment in March fall compared with the same month last year, contractors said.
Rhode Island construction employment in March slid by 100 people when compared with February, the contractors added. The Ocean State joined 26 other states and Washington D.C. in seeing a fall from February to March.
“These data show that recovery is spotty and variable in construction, as the location and number of states with job gains retreated from the levels in February,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “While three states posted healthy year-over-year employment gains of more than 5 percent and North Dakota reached an all-time high in construction employment, West Virginia lost one out of nine construction jobs in the past year.”