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As the local economy continues to recover on a monthly and yearly basis, construction jobs in Fort Lauderdale are still lagging behind.

During March, Florida's unemployment rate decreased from 11.5 percent to 11.1 percent, which is still well above the national average of 8.8 percent. The most recent rate for Ft. Lauderdale, which was in February, came in at 9.7 percent.

The Ft. Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach area employed a total of 708,800 workers during March, which is up from 706,300 workers during February and a .5 percent increase from last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That low yearly increase in employment is due to the fact that there were more industries that lost jobs between March 2010 and March 2011 than those that gained jobs during that time. A total of six industries saw a yearly employment decline, while only four saw an increase in employment.

The construction industry fared the worst over the year, declining by 6.7 percent to 29,200 employees. That was followed by the manufacturing industry, which decreased by 3.8 percent to 23,100 workers, and the financial activities industry, which dropped by 2 percent to 53,000 jobs.

The information industry decreased by .6 percent to 16,200 workers, while the other services industry declined by .3 percent to 31,100 employees, and the government industry dropped by .1 percent to 101,300 jobs.

At the other end of the scale, the leisure and hospitality industry added the most workers over the year, growing by 3.6 percent to 80,600 workers. That was followed by the education and health services and professional and business services industries, both of which increased by 1.5 percent over the year, totaling 96,600 jobs and 118,300 jobs, respectively.

The trade, transportation, and utilities industry also saw a yearly increase in employment during March, growing by 1.2 percent to 159,300 workers.

Industries that saw a monthly increase in employment include:

• Leisure and hospitality by 1,800 jobs
• Trade, transportation, and utilities by 1,300 jobs
• Financial activities by 800 jobs
• Other services by 200 jobs
• Manufacturing by 100 jobs

Employment in the information and government industries remained even over the month, while every other industry lost jobs.

Labels: Construction jobs in Fort Lauderdale