National construction industry employment fell by 20,000 jobs in November pushing the unemployment rate to 12.2 percent, up from 11.4 percent the previous month, according to the Dec. 7 employment report by the U.S. Department of Labor. Year-over-year, construction employment is down by 6,000 jobs, or 0.1 percent.
The nonresidential building construction sector lost 4,300 jobs in November. The residential building construction sector lost 6,800 jobs for the month and has lost 15,700 jobs, or 2.8 percent, since November 2011. Nonresidential specialty trade contractors lost 7,400 jobs for the month and have lost 16,000 jobs, or 0.8 percent year-over-year.
In contrast, residential specialty trade contractors added 3,200 jobs in November and have added 20,700 jobs, or 1.4 percent, compared to the same time last year. Heavy and civil engineering construction sector employment decreased by 3,800 jobs in November, but has increased by 5,900 jobs, or 0.7 percent, during the past twelve months.
Across all industries, the nation added 146,000 jobs as the private sector expanded by 147,000 jobs and the public sector shrunk by 1,000 jobs. The national unemployment rate decreased to 7.7 percent in November from 7.9 percent in October.