By Kristena Hansen | Phoenix Business Journal
The construction workforce climbed to its highest level in more than four years last month, indicating the federal government shutdown had a minimal short-term impact on the industry, according to a statement Friday from the Associated General Contractors of America. Overall, the construction industry stood at 5.83 million workers in October, up 3.3 percent year-over-year. That also was up by 11,000 from September, marking the fifth consecutive month of job gains, according to the report, which is based on the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The industry’s unemployment rate also fell to 9 percent for the month, down from 11.4 percent a year ago.
