Construction Sector Hit as Jobless Rate Rises Again in September

The headline unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September as nonfarm payroll unemployment fell a greater-than-expected 263,000, with construction among the hardest hit sectors. [IMAGE] Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 7.6 million to 15.1 million, and the unemployment rate has doubled to 9.8 percent, the "Bureau of Labor Statistics":http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm said. The continued rise in unemployment â€" the August rate was 9.7 percent â€" shows the weakness of the economic recovery so far. From May through September, job losses averaged 307,000 per month, compared with losses averaging 645,000 per month from November 2008 to April. [COLUMN_BREAK] Construction employment declined by 64,000 in September. Monthly job losses averaged 66,000 from May through September, compared with an average of 117,000 per month from November to April. Job cuts were concentrated in the industry's nonresidential components (-39,000) and in heavy construction (-12,000). Since December 2007, employment in construction has fallen by 1.5 million. Other sectors that were hard hit in September included manufacturing (-51,000), retail trade (-39,000) and government (-53,000), according to the government statistics. However, monthly layoff announcements, as tracked by outplacement consultants Gray & Christmas, fell in September to the lowest level since March 2008, as employers announced plans to reduced payrolls by 66,404 positions. The September figures were down 13 percent from the 76,456 job cuts announced in July, and 30 percent lower than the same month a year ago, when employers announced 95,094 job cuts. This marks the fourth consecutive month in which job cut announcements declined from the year-ago level. While downsizing has slowed dramatically since the beginning of the year, job cuts are on pace to surpass the 2008 year-end total of 1,223,993, the consulting group said. Employers have already announced 1,136,908 through September, which is 49 percent higher than last year's nine-month total of 763,090.