Washington, D.C. – Wyoming led the nation with a 10-percent gain in construction employment over the last 12 months, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on July 18 when it issued estimates of seasonally adjusted construction employment by state in June.
Previously, BLS had reported that construction employment fell 5.9 percent nationally from June 2007 to June 2008. During that span, employment fell in 34 states, rose in 13 and was unchanged (or within 100 of prior levels) in the District of Columbia, Hawaii, New Mexico, and North Dakota.
The largest percentage decreases were largest in Arizona and Florida, at -14 percent each. Colorado construction employment numbered 164,400, a drop of 3 percent for the year. The full report is at www.bls.gov/sae.
