Construction Job Decline Slows in May

 |  from Notes from Jim Haughey

Contractors laid off 34,000 workers in May in today’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Monthly job cuts had averaged 48,000 over the previous six months, ranging from 39,000 to 57,000. Together with 8,000 layoffs in wood products manufacturing and 10,000 at architectural/engineering firms, construction again accounted for more than all of the total 49,000 job loss in the overall economy.