AGCA: Construction firms add 29,000 jobs in February

Construction employers added 29,000 jobs in February and 321,000 over the past year, reaching the highest employment total in six years, as the sector’s unemployment rate fell to an eight-year low of 10.6 percent, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. But association officials cautioned that construction jobs in the highway and transit sector were at risk because of Washington gridlock. The report also found that average weekly hours of all employees climbed to 39.6 hours and weekly earnings averaged $1066 in construction, the highest levels in the nine-year history of both series. Weekly earnings in construction were 24 percent above the private-sector average. Nonresidential contractors – building, specialty trade, and heavy and civil engineering construction firms – hired a net of 12,000 workers for the month and 153,400 (4.1 percent) since February 2014.