RIGA — Latvia’s construction industry, one of the hardest-hit sectors by the economic crisis, appears to be stabilizing as first quarter numbers show only at 1 percent year-on-year drop according to the latest Eurostat numbers.

This is a far cry from the -12.2 percent of the previous quarter, and mirrors a European Union-side trend of recovery in the sector.

Unfinished construction sites are now a common sight in the Baltic states, with skeletons of buildings standing neglected for many months throughout the three capitals. Many construction workers are unemployed, and countless building companies went under over the past year and a half.

Meanwhile Lithuania’s construction sector is continuing to suffer severely, posting the third-worst numbers in Europe after the Czech Republic and Poland with -11.8 percent. This has gotten progressively worse since the third quarter of last year.

Eurostat does not have fourth quarter numbers for Estonia.