Excluding construction, the balance of the economy has added 16,000 jobs in the last three months. Other industries will add at least 300,000 more jobs before contractors resume net hiring. Construction jobs are lagging more than usual in this recovery because the housing market, always the first to recovery, has shrunk to less than half of its usual size.

The pattern of job changes in January is consistent with spending trends in the three construction sectors.  Heavy general contractors maintained their employment level while their subcontractors cut back sharply as the recession finally reached this lagging construction sector and the impact of stimulus funding ebbs. Nonresidential building general contractors cut 12,100 jobs and their subcontractors also cut sharply.  This is the continuing adjustment to the recent plunge in work in this sector. Homebuilders dropped 8,800 employees, more than in recent months but few additional cuts are expected as housing starts …