Construction employment down 0.4% in third quarter 2012

A sample survey carried out among construction enterprises showed that employment decreased by 0.4 per cent in the third quarter when compared to the corresponding period in 2011.

Year-on-year data indicate that overall employment in construction activities went down by 0.4 per cent. Employment in the construction of buildings and in civil engineering increased by 1.1 and 5.5 per cent respectively. This was mitigated by a decline of 2.8 per cent in specialized construction activities.

Construction hours adjusted for working days went down by 0.6 per cent. This was reflected in 1.1 and 1.5 per cent drop in construction of buildings and specialised construction activities respectively. On the other hand, hours in civil engineering went up by 5.6 per cent.

During the period under review, reported wages and salaries increased by 1.2 per cent. All sectors contributed to this growth. The construction of buildings, civil engineering and specialised construction activities rose by 0.2, 4.4 and 1.3 per cent respectively.

When comparing the third quarter to the previous quarter, seasonally adjusted employment increased by 0.2 per cent while hours worked and wages declined by 2.6 and 2.3 per cent respectively.

Seasonally adjusted data for new dwelling permits declined by 6.6 per cent when compared to the second quarter this year. This was reflected in a decrease of 5.7 and 6.7 per cent in permits for one-dwelling residential buildings and for two and more dwelling residential buildings (apartments) respectively.