About 75,000 construction workers lost their jobs in January, pushing the unemployment rate in that industry to 24.7 percent.

Though federal stimulus-funded construction activity was helping to keep employment stable in the heavy and civil engineering construction sector, including highway construction, Ken Simonson, chief economist with the Associated General Contractors of America, said declines in construction activity have cost 926,000 construction workers their jobs since January 2009.

“Unlike the rest of the economy,” Simonson said, “the construction industry continues to shed jobs at virtually the same rate in January as it has for the past 12 months.”

Excluding construction job losses, nonfarm payroll employment rose for the second time in three months, according to federal employment numbers released last week.

Calling the stimulus-funded projects “the only bright spot for an industry suffering from depression-era unemployment levels,” Simonson also warned that with architectural services employment down 14.6 percent on a year-over-year basis, there are likely to be fewer projects later this year.

“Any effort by Congress and the administration to address the nation’s unemployment challenges must include significant new investments in infrastructure,” said Stephen Sandherr, the association’s CEO.

“Without those investments, a bad jobs picture will only get much worse,” he said.