NEW YORK (AP) -- A New York City construction group says the recession has cost the industry nearly 20,000 jobs since last summer.
The New York Building Congress says the city's construction jobs fell to 117,000 in March. That's down 19,900 since last August.
The industry lost jobs every month, from August to March, as financing for real estate projects dried up and some were shuttered.
Workers' wages continued to rise despite the job losses, up from an average $65,000 in 2007 to about $68,000 in 2008.
Developers and trade unions have been working for months on a labor agreement that would cut wages and other costs by up to 15 percent to try and restart stalled projects.
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