The U.S. construction industry added 2,000 jobs in May from the prior month, and the sector’s non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 16.3 percent, compared with 17.8 percent in April, according to an analysis of federal data by Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. (ABC)

Though the nonresidential construction industry added 600 jobs for the month, it was down 7,200 jobs in the past 12 months. Year-over-year, seasonally adjusted construction employment in the United States was unchanged.

“This is not good news for construction,” Anirban Basu, ABC’s chief economist, said in a release. “While it is true that nonresidential construction added jobs in May, much of that job growth is a continuation of the economic recovery that had been in place prior to the most recent soft patch.”

The specialty trade contractor segment added 4,300 jobs for the month, but was down 5,600 jobs, or 0.2 percent, from a year earlier. Heavy and civil engineering construction employment grew by 3,100 jobs in May. That segment has added a total of 34,400 jobs in the past 12 months, a 4.2 percent increase.

In May 2010, the construction industry’s non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 20.1 percent.

“The hope remains that privately financed activities will rebound more forcefully in the months ahead as large numbers of publicly financed stimulus projects move toward a close,” Basu said.