Posted: 11:14 am Thu, July 19, 2012
By Chris?Newmarker
Tags: construction jobs, Mark Phillips, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
Minnesota?s residential construction jobs are up 4.6 percent year-over-year, thanks to work on projects like Lennar Homes? Stonehaven development in Eagan, where about 330 homes are planned on the site of the former Carriage Hills golf course. (File photo: Bill Klotz)
12-month growth rate in industry still ahead of national rate
Minnesota added 7,200 jobs in June, ending a three-month streak of job losses.
But the much-embattled construction industry was not among the sectors adding workers, the state Department of Employment and Economic Development reported Thursday.
Construction companies in the state shed 1,100 jobs last month. Despite the loss, the sector is still up 4,000 jobs for the past 12 months ? a 3.9 percent growth rate. Nationwide, the construction jobs picture is pretty much unchanged.
Minnesota has 35,000 more workers overall than it did a year ago, a 1.3 percent growth rate that matches the national rate. The state?s unemployment rate, which remained unchanged at 5.6 percent in June, was much better than the nation?s rate of 8.2 percent.
?Minnesota continues to produce jobs at a steady pace, despite a labor market that has been somewhat uneven in recent months,? DEED Commissioner Mark Phillips said in a news release.
?The state is outperforming the country in several key sectors, including construction, manufacturing and financial activities,? Phillips said.
There has been a fair amount of skepticism out of DEED about the monthly jobs numbers, which are based on a survey sample of fewer than 3,000 Minnesota employers. Just to further drive home the point, DEED now says the government sector lost 1,200 jobs in May versus a previously reported 1,200 jobs gain.
For construction, the 12-month gain in jobs is the more bankable figure, said Steve Hine, research director of DEED?s Labor Market Information Office.
Hine alluded to reports that U.S. builders last month broke ground on the most homes in nearly four years.
In June, homebuilders in the Twin Cities metro area pulled 463 permits for 553 new housing units, up 53 percent and 29 percent respectively from June 2011, according to the Keystone Report. Year-to-date, 1,785 permits have been pulled ? up 36 percent from 2011 totals for the same period. Total units for the first half are up 63 percent, to 3,119.
?There?s a lot of other corroborating data suggesting that construction is starting to recover,? Hine said. ?It?s certainly gaining some traction, with the exception of the heavy construction area. I think we can continue to see longer-term growth, but that doesn?t mean we won?t see an occasional step back.?
In the past 12 months, jobs are up 10.5 percent, to 69,142, among specialty trade contractors such as carpenters and plumbers. Building construction jobs are up 1.3 percent, to 22,483, and housing construction jobs are up 4.6 percent, to 10,189. ?The number of heavy and civil engineering construction jobs is down 18.1 percent, to 12,931, amid belt-tightening at all levels of government.
A rebounding construction industry is good news for other sectors, too.
For example, the Washington, D.C.-based Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation reported last week that construction equipment investment is projected to continue to grow at a strong pace. In White Bear Township, concrete pump truck and trailer maker Schwing America is hiring and reopening portions of its 350,000-square-foot plant.
More construction employment is welcome news, but the sector still has a long way to go to regain the 50,000 jobs it lost during the Great Recession.
Overall, Minnesota has regained about 82,000 of the 158,000 jobs lost in the recession, but has only been averaging a gain of less than 1,500 jobs a month for the first six months of the year.
?There is no question that 2012 so far has been fairly weak,? Hine said.
Minnesota employment growth
12 months ended June 2012
Total Non-Farm Employment: +35,000
Logging and Mining: +200
Construction: +4,000
Manufacturing: +7,200
Trade, Trans. and Utilities: -500
Information: +400
Financial Activities: +3,100
Prof. and Bus. Services: +17,500
Ed. and Health Services: +11,000
Leisure and Hospitality: -7,800
Other Services: +900
Government: -1,000
Source: http://finance-commerce.com/2012/07/total-jobs-up-construction-jobs-down-in-minnesota/
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