Construction lost 31,000 jobs in February but the industry's workforce was up year over year and its unemployment rate was down, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics says.

3月8日发布的有关美国就业的最新报告表明，建筑的失业率在2月份下降到1月的6.4％。该利率也从2018年2月的7.8％下降。

BLS的失业率不会考虑季节性差异，但就业总计经过季节性调整。

The 31,000 plunge in construction jobs during February follows a gain of 53,000 for January. The industry's last monthly jobs decline came in May 2016, a decrease of 8,000.

2月的低迷跨越了所有建筑部门，重型涉及工程领域的裁员13200个工作岗位和住宅专业交易商将承包商减少了9,300。

建筑经济学家指出，美国大部分地区的2月天气是建筑工作急剧下降的原因。

But Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America’s chief economist, calls January’s gain of 53,000 construction jobs “outsized.” Simonson added in a statement, “That suggests contractors may have been able to bring workers on board sooner than normal and had less need to hire in February than usual, even if lousy weather hadn’t stalled some projects.”

AGC还观察到，该行业的总劳动力在过去的12个月中扩大了223,000或3％。

联合建筑商和承包商首席经济学家Anirban Basu，说包括高速公路基础设施工作在内的重复领域“特别容易受到天气不良的影响。”

Construction pay was up, with average hourly earnings climbing 3.1%, to $30.45 in February over the year-earlier figure.

BLS also reported that the U.S economy added only 20,000 jobs in February, far below January’s 223,000 gain.

美国总体失业率从1月份的4.0％和4.1％的4.1％提高到2月的3.8％。

巴苏说，美国总体的经济扩张“在2019年似乎比2018年更柔和。”

他警告说，2月份的工作数据“应考虑到经济状况可以迅速变化，这意味着建议承包商继续仔细管理现金流。”

标题于19月3日纠正，显示2月份丢失了31,000个建筑工作。