Residential Construction Declines Sharply in New York City

The predictions come from the New York Building Congress, an industry trade group. But, things are not as bad as they had expected, according to their recent report.

"Spending is down in just about every category, including hotels, office buildings and public works.

The bright spot is that the situation could have been worse, said Richard T. Anderson, president of the Building Congress. A year ago, the group forecast a 30 percent drop, with as many as 30,000 construction workers losing their jobs. It turns out, the report says, that the industry has lost 11,000 jobs this year.

'It's a declining construction market,' Mr. Anderson said, 'but not as much as we anticipated.'"