Basu also said, "The recovery in construction spending ahs been halting to date and therefore occasional setbacks are to be expected." He added that ABC's Construction Backlog Indicator was down in the fourth quarter of 2011, a signal of the February falloff in jobs and an sign that construction's overall employment "is likely to be sluggish in the months ahead."

Construction’s jobless rate remained much worse than the U.S. economy's overall 8.3%. That national rate held steady with January's mark, as the economy added a net 227,000 jobs for February, BLS reported.

ABC's Basu said as the economy as a whole improves,  that should assist construction spending. He added, "This should eventually translate into more stable nonresidential construction employment growth later this year."