R.I. 49th for construction job growth in May

AMOS HOUSE Community Center, at Pine and Friendship streets in Providence, is seen under construction. The Associated General Contractors of America said Rhode Island lost 5.4 percent of construction jobs year over year in May. / PBN FILE PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO
AMOS HOUSE Community Center, at Pine and Friendship streets in Providence, is seen under construction. The Associated General Contractors of America said Rhode Island lost 5.4 percent of construction jobs year over year in May. / PBN FILE PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island ranked third from last among states and the District of Columbia for losing 900 construction jobs in May compared with May 2014.

The Associated General Contractors of America, using federal Labor Department data, said the Ocean State lost 5.4 percent of construction jobs year over year, bringing the total number to 15,700 from 16,600.
That put Rhode Island 49th on the list which ranked states and the District of Columbia by the percentage of jobs gained and lost. This was the second month in a row that Rhode Island ranked 49th.
Idaho ranked first its nearly 12 percent increase (4,200 more jobs), while West Virginia ranked last for a 12.3 percent decrease (4,200 fewer jobs).
Month over month, Rhode Island fared better – placing 20th for its 0.6 percent increase, or 100-job gain, from April to May.
Connecticut and New Hampshire had the highest percentage job gains month over month at 4.3 percent, or 2,400 and 1,000 jobs, respectively. In comparison, Wyoming ranked last for its 4.1 percent decrease, a loss of 1,000 jobs, month over month.
The association said construction firms added jobs in 40 states and the District of Columbia between May 2014 and May 2015 and in 28 states and the District of Columbia between April and May.
“Construction has outpaced the overall economy in adding workers nationally but the mix of states with construction job gains keeps changing,” Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist, said in a statement. “The top 10 states for job gains from April to May had previously lagged in adding construction workers, while energy-producing and other states that had record construction employment a few months ago have slipped.”
Simonson noted that six states that added the highest percentage of construction workers in May were all in the Northeast, a region that has seen less growth in construction in recent years than other parts of the country.
Following Connecticut and New Hampshire with job gains from April to May were New York (4.2 percent, 14,200 jobs), Vermont (4.1 percent, 600 jobs), Maryland (2.9 percent, 4,500 jobs) and Massachusetts (2.7 percent, 3,500 jobs). New York added the largest number of jobs for the month, followed by California (6,100, 0.9 percent) and Maryland.

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