Residential construction jobs down 10% in February

Some 875,000 workers were employed in residential construction during February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, down 10.4% from February of last year. Nearly 2.2 million workers were employed in residential specialty trades last month, down 6% from the same month in 2007.
Average hourly wages for the construction segment were up 4.3% year-over-year to $21.34, with average weekly wages up the same amount to $798.12. Although hourly wages in February edged up half a percentage point from the previous month, weekly wages dipped the same amount from January.