As the real estate market limps though another year, South Florida's construction industry continues to hemorrhage jobs.

As of August, the sector had shed another 15,100 jobs compared to a year ago, according to a report released Wednesday by the Associated General Contractors of America.

In the Miami metropolitan area, construction-related jobs were down 14 percent versus last year. The greater Fort Lauderdale area saw a steeper dip of 17 percent.

Statewide,the sector lost some 66,300 jobs, according to the report, which analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Miami-Dade and Broward ranked 209 and 260 in job losses, respectively, among 337 metropolitan areas nationwide.

The Reno, Nev., area ranked first, with a 35 percent loss, followed by Duluth, Minn., which saw a 33 percent decline, and Tucson, Ariz., which saw a 31 percent decline.

Ken Simonson, chief economist for AGC, said South Florida's rankings ran contrary to expectations mainly because the losses began much earlier than elsewhere.

In 2006, the region's construction workforce peaked at 166,600.

By August, it had fallen to just over 110,000.

``It's been an even steeper drop than it was a pickup,'' Simonson said. ``It would be nice to say you touched bottom, but it could fall even further, because there is so little activity.''