Monthly Labor Review October 2006 3

Recent employment trends in residential

and nonresidential construction

During and following the 2001 recession, as consumer investment

and business investment diverged from their usual patterns,

residential construction employment increased and nonresidential

construction employment declined

By John P. Mullins

John P. Mullins is an

economist in the

Office of Employment

and Unemployment

Statistics. E-mail:

mullins.john@bls.gov

 Construction Employment in Recessions

The construction industry encompasses a

collection of diverse, specialized smaller

industries, each serving different groups

and providing different services. Although

differing in timing, business and employment

cycles across these subindustries have tended

to follow similar patterns, rising sharply in

response to economic expansions and declining

in response to contractions. However, during

and following the recession of 2001, two

divergent and historically atypical employment

trends emerged among construction industries,

with those serving residential customers

thriving, and those serving nonresidential

customers stagnating or declining.1 This article

analyzes trends in construction employment

from 2001 to 2005,2 with special attention being

given to the measurement of residential and

nonresidential components.3

Construction employment

Construction is an extremely cyclical industry

that typically has suffered recessionary

employment declines exceeding, in both depth

and duration, those in other industries. During

and following the four recessions that took place

from 1973 to 1991, employment declines in the

construction industry averaged 16.2 percent, as

opposed to 2.0 percent in total nonfarm

industries, excluding construction.4

 In addition,

employment declines in construction over this

period lasted about two and one-half times as

long as those in other industries.5

 (See chart 1.)

However, in 2001, construction experienced an

employment decline that was mild by historical

standards (3.0 percent), while other nonfarm

industries combined experienced a more typical

decline (2.1 percent). Furthermore, construction’s

2001 employment contraction was substantially

shorter in duration than that in total nonfarm,

excluding construction—another departure from

historical patterns. This pattern carries through

to job recovery, with construction recovering

jobs lost in the downturn much more quickly

than usual, and other industries recovering much

more slowly than usual. (See table 1.)

Differences from trend in the 2001 recession

reflect job loss and job recovery inconsistencies

across construction component industries, with

overall construction employment being pulled in

two different directions. Largely mirroring trends

in the larger economy, component industries

catering to the needs of consumers—the residential market—experienced steady employment

increases. Construction industries that focused on

the needs of business and government—the nonresidential market—experienced steady employment declines. (See table 2.) It is not unusual for

trends in residential and nonresidential

construction to vary somewhat; however, the

magnitude of their divergence in the 2001

recession is historically unique and reflects the

unusual nature of the recession itself.
4 Monthly Labor Review October 2006

Construction Employment in Recessions

A business recession

The recession of 2001 has been called a “business recession,”

an economic downturn primarily characterized by sharply

curtailed business investment. Cutbacks in business

spending and—to a lesser extent—government spending

were offset by robust spending among consumers. This was

especially true in the construction industry, where divergent

trends emerged in residential and nonresidential fixed

investment during the recession of 2001.6 (See charts 2 and 3.)

 NOTE: Shaded bars denote recession. Black dots represent employment peaks and troughs. Grey dots represent

return to employment level of previous peak. Bolded black portions of data series represent periods of recessionary job

loss.

Total nonfarm,

 excluding construction

 (in thousands)

Construction employment

 (in thousands)

1,500

3,000

4,500

6,000

7,500

9,000

10,500

12,000

1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005

45,000

60,000

75,000

90,000

105,000

120,000

135,000

150,000

January 1980 to July

1980; July 1981 to

November 1982

(combined)

1 The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is the generally

recognized arbiter of business cycle turning points. NBER defines recessions

as economy-wide declines in economic activity lasting more than a few

months that can be observed in major economic indicators. Recession

starting points are business cycle peaks and ending points are business

cycle troughs. For the period covered in this article, NBER-designated

recessions are as follows: November 1973 to March 1975; January 1980 to

July 1980; July 1981 to November 1982; July 1990 to March 1991; March

2001 to November 2001.

2 Dates of employment cycle peaks and troughs do not directly correspond to

those of the NBER-designated business cycles. For both construction employment

and total nonfarm employment, excluding construction, a single peak-to-trough

cycle spanned the two NBER-designated recessions that took place from January

1980 to July 1980 and from July 1981 to November 1982. Thus, these two

recessionary periods are analyzed as a single employment cycle.

Industry

Table 1. Cyclical employment trends in construction and total nonfarm, excluding construction

 Dates of recessions as designated by the National Bureau of Economic

 Research (NBER)1

 November 1973 to July 1990 to March 2001 to

 March 1975 March 1991 November 2001

 Recessionary job losses (in percent)2

Total nonfarm, excluding construction .................. 2.4 2.8 1.1 2.1

Construction .......................................................... 17.8 15 15.7 3

Number of months to recover to previous

peak employment level2:

Total nonfarm, excluding construction .................. 15 17 29 50

Construction .......................................................... 50 64 74 36

Chart 1. Construction employment and total nonfarm employment, excluding construction,

 seasonally adjusted, January 1973–December 2005

Construction

Total nonfarm,

excluding

construction
Monthly Labor Review October 2006 5

Month of

recovery

Job loss

Table 2. Employment trends in selected industries following March 2001 business cycle peak through 2005

 Employment change

Industry-specific Industry-specific Duration of since peak

 Industry employment employment contraction

peak trough in months Number (in Percent Number (in Percent

thousands) thousands)

Total nonfarm ............................... Feburary 2001 August 2003 30 2,754 2.1 February 2005 1,825 1.4

Total nonfarm, excluding

construction ............................ Feburary 2001 August 2003 30 2,667 2.1 April 2005 1,250 1.0

Construction .............................. March 2001 March 2003 24 207 3.0 March 2004 554 8.1

Construction of

buildings ............................... March 2000 March 2003 36 84 5.1 October 2004 75 4.5

Residential building ............ March 2000 April 2001 13 70 8.3 September 2003 124 14.7

Nonresidential building ....... October 2000 February 2004 40 95 11.6 No job recovery –56 –6.9

Heavy and civil engineering

construction ......................... February 2002 June 2004 28 59 6.1 June 2005 17 1.8

Specialty trade contractors .. March 2001 May 2002 14 128 3.0 December 2003 400 9.3

100=NBER peak quarter 100=NBER peak quarter

SOURCE: Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Number of quarters preceding and following business cycle peak

50

75

100

125

150

175

-7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

50

75

100

125

150

175

Historically, residential fixed investment began falling well

before the peak in the business cycle. On average, it returned

to the peak level 10 quarters after the business cycle peak.

However, in 2001, residential investment was still growing at

the business cycle peak and continued growing throughout

the recession. Especially notable is the fact that for each of

the 6 quarters following the 2001 business cycle peak,

residential investment exceeded its maximum for the prior four

business cycles.

In 2001, nonresidential investment was somewhat stronger

than average immediately before the business cycle peak and

remained about average 2 quarters into the recession.

However, nonresidential investment plummeted thereafter,

quickly falling well below both its 1973-to-1991 average and

its minimum for all quarters. In other words, nonresidential

building investment following the 2001 business cycle peak

has been weaker than during any of the previous four

business cycles.

 Chart 2. Private residential fixed investment, indexed to level at business cycle peak, recession

 and recovery, 1973–91 and 2001

2001 recession and recovery

Average recession and recovery

1973–91

 maximum,

 by quarter

1973–91 minimum,

 by quarter
6 Monthly Labor Review October 2006

Construction Employment in Recessions

100=NBER peak quarter

Number of quarters preceding and following business cycle peak

100=NBER peak quarter

SOURCE: Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Residential demand and employment

Over the past few years, demographic trends and favorable

economic developments have converged, creating strong

demand for residential construction. Baby boomers—those

born from 1946 to 1964—form an enormous demographic

cohort.7 This group has entered their middle and later years

having accumulated home equity that far exceeds that of prior

generations. This equity has been a ready source of funds for

the purchase of new homes and the renovation of existing

homes, both of which have fueled construction activity over

the past few years. In addition, many boomers purchase

second homes as investments, as vacation homes, or in

anticipation of retirement. In fact, surging sales of second

homes have largely been driven by purchasers over the age

of 55.8 While relatively few of these homes are newly

constructed, their purchase indicates increased demand for

housing overall—a condition that spurs construction. Even

first-time home buyers among boomers exert a strong

influence on the housing market due to the sheer size of the

demographic group.

Boomers are now joined in the housing market by their

children. Although a much smaller group, people in the 25-to44 age cohort form a disproportionate share of homeowners,

Table 3. Total U.S. population and home ownership by age, 2003

Percent of total Percent of owners Percent of owners

population of all homes of new homes

Under 20 years ............................. 81,225,889 27.9 0.6 0.8

20 to 24 years ............................... 20,768,264 7.1 1.1 2.6

25 to 34 years ............................... 39,858,907 13.7 12.5 28.5

35 to 44 years ............................... 44,404,282 15.3 21.3 29.2

45 to 54 years ............................... 40,806,713 14.0 23.1 16.4

55 to 64 years ............................... 27,833,561 9.6 17.3 11.1

65 to 74 years ............................... 18,351,098 6.3 12.3 7.6

75 to 84 years ............................... 12,885,278 4.4 9.1 3.4

85 years and older ........................ 4,716,013 1.6 2.6 0.4

Sources: Population data are from the U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Estimates of the U.S. Population; home ownership data are from the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development, American Housing Survey public use microdata; all tabulations by the author.

Age group Total population

Chart 3. Private fixed investment in nonresidential structures, indexed to level

 at business cycle peak, recession and recovery, 1973–91 and 2001

50

75

100

125

150

175

-7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

50

75

100

125

150

175

Average recession and recovery, 1973–91

2001 recession and recovery

1973–91

maximum,

by quarter

1973–91

minimum,

by quarter
Monthly Labor Review October 2006 7

NOTE: Shaded areas denote recessions.

SOURCE: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.

Percent Percent

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

18.0

20.0

1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

18.0

20.0

especially owners of newly constructed homes.9 (See table

3.) Affluent, educated young people are also highly mobile,

showing a propensity to migrate within the United States,

with the West and South being favored destinations. This

migration, along with that of retirees, has helped drive

population growth and building activity in these regions.

Thus, it is not surprising that in recent years these regions

have experienced the greatest amount of growth in new home

starts.10

Immigration is also a vital factor influencing the demand

for housing. Immigration to the United States surged in the

early 1990s, spurring growth in household formation. More

importantly, the number of persons naturalized has climbed

since the late 1990s.11 Naturalization suggests longer

residence, which indicates a greater likelihood of homeownership. Compared with new immigrants, naturalized immigrants

are likely to have developed greater familiarity with the

financial processes involved in home purchase. While these

homebuyers are likely to purchase existing homes, rather than

new ones, their influence on the market carries through to

new home construction.12

These demographic conditions provide an underlying

foundation for strong housing and residential construction

markets. However, these conditions do not fully explain recent

growth, which has been exceptionally strong relative to

demographic fundamentals. Financial and economic conditions complete the explanation.

More than any other factor, a sustained period of low

mortgage rates has fueled activity in the housing market, and

by extension, the residential construction market. Over most

of the past quarter-century, there has been a secular decline in

mortgage rates. In the 1970s, the 30-year fixed conventional

mortgage rate averaged 8.86 percent; the 1980s average was

12.70 percent; the 1990s average was 8.12 percent; the average

after 2000 has been 6.52 percent. The rate fell to a historic low

point of 5.23 in June 2003 and has fluctuated within a

percentage point of that level since then.13 (See chart 4.)

A mortgage rate, like all interest, is the price of borrowing

money. As interest rates fall, monthly mortgage payments fall

as well, which allows borrowers to obtain a larger loan. With

each percentage point drop in the rate, the amount a

homebuyer can borrow increases by about 10 percent. For example, with a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, at 8.50 percent, a

simple monthly payment of $1,000 will purchase a $130,100

loan; at 7.50 percent, the same payment will purchase a loan of

$143,100; a further decrease to 6.50 percent increases the loan

amount to $158,300; and at 5.50 percent, the loan amount

increases to $176,200. Therefore, lower mortgage rates increase

the purchasing power of potential homebuyers at all income

levels. Another adverse effect of this phenomenon is that it

Chart 4. Thirty-year conventional mortgage rate
8 Monthly Labor Review October 2006

Construction Employment in Recessions

drives up home prices. But these price increases did not slow

construction activity. Price increases have been most acute in

metropolitan areas on the two coasts of the country, where

available land is at a premium. Most new residential

construction, however, occurs in the South and (interior)

West, where land is more readily available and price increases

have been more moderate. Furthermore, even in expensive

coastal cities, home builders have continued to build on the

peripheries of metropolitan areas, as buyers show an

increased willingness to live farther from city centers.

Various mortgage products have also mitigated the impact

of price increases. Financing options such as adjustable-rate

mortgages and interest-only mortgages have increased in

popularity along with home prices. These loans require smaller

down payments and lower monthly payments, effectively

making it easier for prospective home buyers to purchase

larger, newer, and more expensive homes.

Increasing home prices have also increased the equity, or

ownership share, of existing homeowners. An owner who has

paid 50 percent of the purchase price of his or her home has at

least 50 percent equity in it. If the value of that home rises

from $200,000 to $300,000, the value of the homeowner’s

ownership share rises from $100,000 to $150,000. The owner

can tap that equity by refinancing his loan or otherwise

borrowing against his increased equity. Surging home prices

and sustained low mortgage rates over the past several years

have encouraged many homeowners to do just that. This in

turn has spurred construction activity, since the single

biggest use of such “cash-out” equity is the renovation or

remodeling of homes.14

These demographic and financial factors have led to a

dramatic increase in home construction, with all indicators—

permit issuance, housing starts, and new home sales—

showing steady increases over the past several years.15 (See

table 4.) This increased housing activity has carried through

to residential building employment, which grew through

virtually all of the 2001 recession, adding 194,000 jobs since

its last employment trough in April 2001—an increase of 25

percent. (See chart 5.) This growth occurred primarily in the

single-family home component of residential builders.

At the same time, however, the previously mentioned

increase in “cash-out” refinancing also spurred employment

growth among residential remodelers. But recent moderate

increases in mortgage rates have dampened both refinance

and remodeling activity. Employment in multifamily building

construction also increased in 2005, as increases in the price

of single-family homes have led potential buyers to turn to

condominiums as lower priced substitutes. Directly

comparable employment data at this level of detail is not

available for prior recessions. However, BLS employment data

produced under the discontinued Standard Industrial

Classification (SIC) system show that residential employment

throughout and following the 2001 recession was uniquely

strong.

Employment among specialty trade contractors also

increased in response to robust residential construction

activity. This industry group consists of establishments

involved in specific building activities, such as framing,

painting, or roofing. Unlike the building construction industry,

specialty trade contractors are not responsible for entire

projects.

BLS now publishes data for specialty trade contractors

under two parallel classification schemes; these data are

available from 2001 to the present.16 The first scheme follows

the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS),17

which is used by all CES employment series. (See box on page

9.) Because this system involves classifying specialty trade

establishments by specific trade activities, information on

residential and nonresidential employment are not available

for the data classified only under NAICS. Thus, BLS publishes

employment data for specialty trades using type of

construction—residential or nonresidential—as an additional

classification criterion. This allows for analysis of these two

markets to determine which one drives employment changes

in specialty trades. Although this employment series is not

available prior to 2001, data from that year’s recession show a

Ratio of starts to

completions

Year

Table 4. Residential construction indicators

 Over-the-year percentage changes, not seasonally adjusted

Building permits Housing starts Housing completions New home sales

2000 .......................................... –4.3 –4.4 –1.9 –2.5 –0.3

2001 .......................................... 2.8 2.2 –0.2 2.4 3.5

2002 .......................................... 6.8 6.4 4.9 1.4 7.2

2003 .......................................... 8.1 8.4 1.8 6.4 11.6

2004 .......................................... 8.6 5.9 9.7 –3.5 10.8

2005 .......................................... 3.7 5.6 4.8 0.7 6.6

Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Monthly Labor Review October 2006 9

Chart 5. Residential and nonresidential building construction employment, seasonally adjusted,

 January 1990–December 2005

NOTE: Shaded areas denote recessions.

[In thousands] [In thousands]

Residential

Nonresidential

400

500

600

700

800

900

1,000

1,100

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

400

500

600

700

800

900

1,000

1,100

trend in residential specialty trade contractors that is similar

to that in other residential construction. (See chart 6.)

Nonresidential demand and employment

The picture for nonresidential construction has not been

nearly as rosy as that for residential construction. A key

difference between the two types of construction is that

businesses only derive utility from new construction if it

produces income itself or otherwise enhances their ability to

produce income. Homeowners, or potential homeowners, are

fairly responsive to enhanced opportunities to own a home

or to move to a more expensive home. But for businesses, the

advantages of more space or better amenities are not

sufficient justification by themselves for businesses to build,

purchase, or lease new space.

Commercial, industrial, and other forms of nonresidential

buildings are essentially part of the productive capacity of

corresponding industries. When those industries suffer, the

result is often excess capacity or unused building space. An

example can be found in commercial building. Driven by

generally bleak business conditions, especially following the

collapse of the “dot com” economy of the 1990s, employment

in office-using industries experienced a decline that was

historically unique in magnitude.18 Since these office workers

occupy commercial real estate, it is not surprising that their

job losses were accompanied by a rapid increase in

commercial vacancy rates. (See chart 7.) Office vacancy rates

represent excess capacity for office-using industries—that

In early 2005, BLS introduced a time series that facilitates

analysis of employment in the construction industry. CES data

is categorized according to the 2002 North American Industry

Classification System (NAICS), which does not distinguish

between residential and nonresidential specialty trade

contractors. Therefore, analyzing employment changes within

specialty trades is rather difficult. For example, data from the

Census Bureau’s quinquennial Economic Census details the

types of construction performed by the specialty trades

component industries. If employment growth was concentrated

in industries whose business was heavily residential, one could

assume that residential strength was driving overall growth in

specialty trades. However, because the Economic Census is

only updated every 5 years, timeliness is lost using this

method. The new CES time series relies on supplemental survey

information to determine whether each specialty trades

establishment specializes in residential or nonresidential

construction. By producing monthly estimates divided into

these two categories, it is possible to see trends and turning

points with greater precision.
10 Monthly Labor Review October 2006

Construction Employment in Recessions

NOTE: Shaded area denotes recession.

In thousands In thousands

1,600

1,750

1,900

2,050

2,200

2,350

2,500

2,650

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

1,600

1,750

1,900

2,050

2,200

2,350

2,500

2,650

Chart 7. Office employment and metropolitan office vacancy rates, January 1973–December 2005

Residential

Nonresidential

NOTE: Office employment is defined as the sum of employment in the information, financial activities, and professional and business

services industries. Shaded areas denote recessions.

SOURCE: For vacancy rate data: CB Richard Ellis. Vacancy rate data prior to 1985 are not available.

Millions of employees Vacancy rate

 (in percent)

Chart 6. Residential and nonresidential specialty trade contractor employment, seasonally adjusted,

 January 2001–December 2005

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005

2

7

12

17

22

27

Employment

Vacancy rate
Monthly Labor Review October 2006 11

is, their productive assets are not being fully utilized.

Therefore, investors and builders often are reluctant to add

capacity in the form of new construction until existing

buildings are utilized more fully and vacancy rates decline.

Vacancy rates stabilized in 2003 and have declined

somewhat recently, but they remain quite high. This same

trend occurs in industrial construction, which has been

negatively affected by long-term weakness in manufacturing,

a trend that was exacerbated by the 2001 recession.

Manufacturing weakness has led to greatly diminished

nonresidential construction investment, which is mirrored in

the dollar value of nonresidential construction awards. (See

chart 8.)

Still, there have been a few bright spots in private

nonresidential construction. These are in building types that

either benefit from consumer spending or are less susceptible

to decreasing business investment. Real spending on retail

construction has seen steady growth over much of the past 3

years, driven by expansion among discount department

stores, which in turn is driven by sustained strength in

consumer spending.19 Nonresidential construction strength

has also come in health care construction, the demand for

which is much less sensitive to economic fluctuations.

Government also plays an important role in nonresidential

construction activity. Government spending accounts for 20

to 25 percent of all construction spending, with the vast

majority being nonresidential construction. The majority of

government construction projects are classified as heavy or

civil engineering projects, such as highways, sewers, utilities,

and other kinds of public infrastructure. But educational and

office construction also constitute large areas of government

expenditure. Recessions generally reduce government

income, because tax receipts tend to fall in periods of diminished economic activity. However, government spending

on construction projects tends to hold up fairly well during

recessions, a situation that continued in 2001.

Employment in nonresidential building construction

entered a period of nearly 3 years of decline in October 2000.

By the time it reached its trough in February 2004, the industry

had lost almost 95,000 jobs, a decline of about 12 percent.

Since then, the industry has recovered about a third of the

lost jobs. Within nonresidential construction, industrial

building experienced especially severe job losses. Since last

reaching an employment peak in July 2000, the industry has

lost 57,000 jobs, a quarter of its workforce.

The picture has been somewhat brighter for commercial

building construction, which did not begin to lose jobs until

a year after industrial building employment began to decline.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Chart 8. Residential construction contract awards index, not seasonally adjusted, 12-month moving

 average, January 1973–December 2005

NOTE: Shaded areas denote recession.

SOURCE: McGraw Hill Information Systems, F.W. Dodge Division, and Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

1980 = 100 1980 = 100
12 Monthly Labor Review October 2006

Construction Employment in Recessions

Although the industry lost 55,000 jobs on its way to an

employment trough in December 2003, the commercial building

industry has now recovered nearly all of the jobs it lost during

that time. This recovery is attributable to the strength in retail

and health care construction, moderate growth in educational

and institutional construction, and declining office vacancy

rates.

Nonresidential specialty trade employment shows a similar

pattern of decline and partial recovery. This series reached an

employment trough in March 2003, losing over 200,000 jobs

since the beginning of the recession—a decline of about 8

percent. Since the trough, employment in nonresidential

trades has recovered about half of its recessionary job loss.

EMPLOYMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY reflects the

aggregate effect of market forces acting upon its diverse

component industries. Trends in these industries were driven

by forces in the larger economy. During the recession of 2001,

these forces displayed unique characteristics that led to

unusual trends in construction employment. Consumer and

business investment diverged to a much greater extent than

usual, which was mirrored in a greater-than-usual divergence

in residential and nonresidential construction investment and

employment. 

Notes

1 The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Business Cycle

Dating Committee is the generally recognized arbiter of business cycle

turning points. NBER defines recessions as economy-wide declines in

economic activity lasting more than a few months that can be observed in

major economic indicators, such as employment and output (GDP).

Recession starting points are business cycle peaks and ending points are

business cycle troughs. For the time frame covered in this article, the dates

of the NBER-designated recessions are as follows: November 1973 to

March 1975; January 1980 to July 1980; July 1981 to November 1982;

July 1990 to March 1991; March 2001 to November 2001. Note that the

length and timing of the NBER-designated peaks and troughs in the business

cycle often differ from those of individual employment series.

2

 Data on employment used in this article are from the Current

Employment Statistics (CES) program, which surveys 160,000 nonfarm

businesses representing about 400,000 establishments monthly. For

more information on the program’s concepts and methodology, see

BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 2, available on the BLS Web site at

http://bls.gov/opub/hom/homch2_a.htm. CES data are available at

http://www.bls.gov/ces/. Data used in this article are seasonally

adjusted unless otherwise noted.

3

 For more information on residential and nonresidential

construction employment, see Christopher Manning and John P.

Mullins, “Two new construction employment series for specialty trade

contractors,” this issue, pp. 14–22.

4

 In this article, comparisons are made between employment in the

construction industry and employment in all total nonfarm industries,

excluding construction. BLS does not tabulate or publish employment

estimates for total nonfarm, excluding construction; these data were

tabulated by the author using published BLS estimates.

5

 For both construction employment and total nonfarm employment, excluding construction, a single peak-to-trough cycle

spanned the two recessions that took place from January 1980 to July

1980 and from July 1981 to November 1982. Therefore, these two

recessions have been analyzed as a single employment cycle.

Contractions in construction employment lasted between 17 and 38

months, compared with durations of 5 to 17 months in total nonfarm

employment, excluding construction.

6

 Data on residential and nonresidential investment are from Bureau of

Economic Analysis, Table 1.1.3, “Real Gross Domestic Product, Quantity

Indexes,” available on the Internet at http://www.bea.gov/bea/dn/nipaweb/

TableView.asp?SelectedTable=3&FirstYear=1972&LastYear=2005&Freq=Qtr.

7

 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 75 million babies were born

in the United States during the baby boom; the “sheer magnitude of

this human tidal wave comes into sharper focus when we realize that

those born from 1946 to 1964 totaled 70 percent more people than

were born during the preceding two decades.” 65+ In the United States,

Current Population Reports: Special Studies, P23–190 (U.S. Census

Bureau, April 1996).

8 2005 National Association of Realtors Profile of Second-Home

Buyers (Washington, DC, National Association of Realtors, 2005).

9

 Data on home ownership were tabulated by the author using public

use microdata from the American Housing Survey, a joint program of

the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban

Development. These data are available on the Internet at http://

www.huduser.org/Datasets/ahs/ahsdata03.html.

10 See Migration of the Young, Single, and College Educated:

1995 to 2000, Census 2000 Special Reports (U.S. Census Bureau,

November 2003), and Internal Migration of the Older Population:

1995 to 2000, Census 2000 Special Reports (U.S. Census Bureau, August

2003). Data on new residential construction (building permits, housing

starts, and housing completions) are published by the U.S. Census

Bureau, available on the Internet at http://www.census.gov/const/www/

newresconstindex.html.

11 For data on immigration, see 2004 Yearbook of Immigration

Statistics (Office of Immigration Statistics, U.S. Department of

Homeland Security, January 2006).

12 For data on homeownership and immigration, see Moving to

America—Moving to Homeownership: 1994–2002, Current Housing

Reports (U.S. Census Bureau, September 2003).

13 Mortgage data are published by Freddie Mac, available on the

News and Information page of the Freddie Mac Web site at http://

www.freddiemac.com/news/.

14 Mortgage Refinancing in 2001 and Early 2002, Federal Reserve

Bulletin (Federal Reserve Board, December 2002).

15 Data on new residential construction (building permits, housing

starts, and housing completions) are published by the U.S. Census

Bureau and are available on the Internet at http://www.census.gov/

const/www/newresconstindex.html.

16 BLS organized the data into these two schemes in 2003. The series

itself is available from 2001 to the present.

17 The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is a

production-oriented framework for organizing establishments according to activities in which they are primarily engaged. Establishments using similar raw material inputs, similar capital equipment, and
Monthly Labor Review October 2006 13

similar labor are classified in the same industry. In other words,

establishments that do similar things in similar ways are classified together.

NAICS is structured hierarchically. Industries are first classified into broad

groupings, or supersectors, which are given a two-digit designation. These

two-digit supersectors are further divided into more detailed three-digit

component industry groups. This process is repeated, with three-digit

industries being divided into four-digit component groups, and so on, to

the six-digit level. For more information on the two schemes, see

Christopher Manning and John P. Mullins, “Two new construction

employment series for specialty trade contractors,” this issue, pp. 14–22.

18 According to the Federal Reserve Board of Govenors, as well as

the National Association of Home Builders and others, the term

“office-using industries” refers to Financial Activities, Information,

and Professional and Business Services.

19 Real retail construction expenditures are the annual value of

retail construction put in place, deflated by the Producer Price Index

(PPI) of New Nonresidential Construction. Data on annual value of

retail construction put in place are from the U.S. Census Bureau and

PPI data are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

LABSTAT available via World Wide Web

LABSTAT, the Bureau of Labor Statistics public database, provides current and historical

data for many BLS surveys as well as numerous news releases.

Data can be accessed using the data retrieval tools available at:

http://www.bls.gov/data

If you have questions or comments regarding the LABSTAT system on the Internet,

address e-mail to:

 labstat.helpdesk@bls.gov