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Half of metros gain construction jobs in past year; Reed says starts sag from a year ago  

Click here to view April metro employment tables.

 An AGC analysis showed that of the 339 metro areas (including divisions of larger metros) for which BLS reports construction employment, 170 had increases, 123 had decreases and 46 were stagnant. (BLS combines mining and logging with construction in most metros to avoid disclosing data about industries with few employees. Metro data is not seasonally adjusted.) Pascagoula, Miss. again added the highest percentage of new construction jobs (45%, 1,700 combined jobs), followed by Napa, Calif. (36%, 800 combined jobs) and Merced, Calif. (19%, 300 combined jobs). The Dallas-Plano-Irving division again added the most jobs (11,500 combined jobs, 11%), closely followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown (11,400 construction jobs, 6%). The largest job losses again were in the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville division (-5,900 construction jobs, -5%), Northern Virginia (-3,200 combined jobs, -5%) and Cincinnati-Middletown, Ohio-Ky.-Ind. (-2,400 combined jobs, -6%). Bellingham, Wash. lost the highest percentage (-20%, -1,300 combined jobs), followed by Decatur, Ill. (-18%, -700 combined jobs).

The value of nonresidential construction starts in April skidded 44% from April 2012, not seasonally adjusted, Reed Construction Data reported on Thursday, based on data it collected. Year-to-date starts for the first four months of 2013 combined declined 11% in value from the same period of 2012. Year-to-date results varied greatly by type: industrial (manufacturing) starts jumped 31% and commercial start rose 4.9%, while institutional building starts slipped 1.5% and heavy engineering (nonbuilding) starts plummeted 29%.

 
The Data DIGest is a weekly summary of economic news; items most relevant to construction are in italics. All rights reserved. Sign up at www.agc.org/datadigest.

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