Construction jobs shrank in June, spending fell in May despite stimulus gains

Nonfarm payroll employment shrank by 125,000, seasonally adjusted, in June as the end of 225,000 temporary Census jobs swamped modest private-sector gains, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The unemployment rate was 9.6 percent, not seasonally adjusted (9.5 percent, seasonally adjusted, down from 9.7 percent in May). Construction employment fell 22,000, seasonally adjusted, to 5,582,000, the lowest level since August 1996. The
unemployment rate in construction was 20.1 percent, not seasonally adjusted (BLS does not adjust industry rates), the highest for any industry and the highest June rate since the series began in 1976, according to a July 2 Data DIGest report.