Florida construction jobs have fallen by more than 20%, according to a report from the Associated General Contractors of America.
Only 10 out of 337 metropolitan areas added construction jobs between February 2009 and February 2010.
Florida lost 70,800 jobs, falling to 351,100 construction jobs in February from 421,900 a year earlier, according to AGCA, which gets its data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
On the upside, Florida saw a slight uptick, month-over-month, adding 1,000 construction jobs between January and February.
The Jacksonville metro area lost 7,100 construction jobs in the year period ending in February, or 20 percent of the total jobs, higher than the statewide total of 17 percent of construction jobs lost.
“In virtually every area, construction workers continued to suffer the brunt of the recession,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist, in a news release. “Job losses in far too many cities were simply, and sadly, staggering.”
According to BizJournals.com, annual construction spending fell to an eight-year low in February. Simonson said single-family homebuilding and the federal stimulus should help boost construction employment in a number of metro areas this spring, but high vacancy rates and shrinking state and local budgets will keep construction employment from rising in most areas.
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