Los Angeles Construction Jobs Decline 10 Percent

As the area's unemployment rate remained even and more jobs were lost, Los Angeles construction jobs suffered the most at the end of last year.

During December 2009, the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale area's unemployment rate remained steady at 12 percent, following a decrease from 12.5 percent during November. The area's unemployment rate is still higher than the national rate of 10 percent.

The Los Angeles area had a total non-farm employment of 3,913,600 workers during December, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 3,915,900 workers during November and a 2.9 percent decrease from December 2008.

Three industries saw a monthly increase in employment, including: trade, transportation and utilities by 5,300 jobs; information by 1,800 jobs; and financial activities by 900 jobs. Employment in the mining and logging and leisure and hospitality industries remained even at 4,300 workers and 381,200 workers, respectively.

The education and health services industry was the only one that managed to add jobs when compared to the previous year. The industry employed 520,200 workers during December, down from 520,600 workers during November, but a 1.9 percent increase from December 2008.

The construction industry took the biggest hit when compared to the previous year. The industry employed 121,200 workers during December, down from 123,100 workers during November and a 10 percent decrease from December 2008.

Other industries that saw an over-the-year decrease in employment include:
mining and logging by 2.3 percent
manufacturing by 7.2 percent
trade, transportation and utilities by 2.7 percent
information by 3.4 percent
financial activities by 2.5 percent
professional and business services by 4.3 percent
leisure and hospitality by 1.9 percent
other services by 3.3 percent
government by 1.6 percent