Some of the affected workers were able to move to the higher-end of the job distribution, but many had to take up jobs in the lower-wage service sector, potentially displacing lower-skilled workers. This shock was especially strong in the Western states, w'hich lost about 8% of construction jobs between 2007 and 2008. While there have always been profound changes in labour demand (e.g. when agriculture contracted and manufacturing expanded), the fact that these recent changes have been associated with a decline in labour force participation may reflect the difficulty for workers losing their job to adapt to changing demand and remain in the labour force.