The day before the dismal August jobs numbers came out, New York City’s Department of Buildings appointed a new construction czar, Fred Mosher, to streamline the approval process and fast track new projects. Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri called new development “critical to ensuring that our city continues to grow,” reported Crain’s New York Business.

The City’s construction industry has been in decline since 2008. Continued losses in construction jobs this summer have contributed to sluggish growth in New York’s overall employment numbers. In August alone, New York lost 6,600 positions, or 6 percent of its construction jobs.

In the case of office construction, the Great Recession appears to be creating a vicious circle. The New York Observer recently quoted a report by the New York Building Congress that concluded unemployment in other sectors and the high rate of vacancies in existing buildings has meant there’s little need for new towers.

At a time of high unemployment in the sector, construction workers are fighting to maintain their pay and benefits. The New York Times shed light on the trend towards employing nonunion construction workers in March amid contract disputes between workers’ unions and construction companies. At present, 27 percent of construction workers are unionizedin New York City, according to a new report by Ruth Milkman and Laura Braslow of CUNY’s Center for Urban Research.

There is some good news. A job forecasting tool on USA Today’s website using Moody’s analysis predicts a 1.6 percent increase in construction jobs in New York over the next year.