BLS report for February has mixed results for construction: unemployment rate down compared with January and year-earlier levels, but 13,000 jobs lost.

The bureau's latest monthly report, released on March 9, indicated that construction’s jobless rate has showed year-over-year improvement for 17 consecutive months.

The BLS unemployment rates for construction and other industries are not adjusted to account for seasonal variations.

“Since many firms were able to either get an early start, or a late finish, to construction activity in December and January because of mild conditions, this month's job decline is probably more of a seasonal correction than the start of a new trend,” said Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America chief economist. “Given that the industry added over 47,000 jobs in the previous two months, the overall trend line is actually more positive than the monthly figures would indicate.”