More than a quarter decline in MA construction since 2007

The Boston Business Journal reports:

The Bay State’s construction sector has shed 34,200 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis since January 2007, with some of the commonwealth’s largest metropolitan areas having lost more than a quarter of their jobs in that span.

Nationally, 317 of the country’s 337 largest metros shed construction jobs since the downturn commenced, with some markets, particularly in the southwestern portion of the country, contracting by as much as 65 percent.

In Massachusetts, construction firms employed 92,500 people on a seasonally adjusted basis at the end of January, off 27 percent from the 126,700 workers in the sector four years earlier, according to The Associated General Contractors of America.

The Boston-Cambridge-Quincy region reported the state’s largest decline in total jobs lost, falling by 15,100 positions during the period studied. That brought the area’s total construction employment to 43,100 jobs at the end of January, off 26 percent over four years.

On a percentage basis, New Bedford and Peabody tied for the state’s largest decline, sliding 30 percent. New Bedford’s drop included 800 jobs, while Peabody’s affected 1,100 positions.

What will it take to get the industry moving again?