AGC of America: Stimulus Money Creating Construction Jobs

Construction companies nationwide are reporting that the stimulus bill passed in February is making it possible to hire new workers, according to a press release from The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC of America). 

The early information provides the first glimpse into how federally funded infrastructure and construction projects can help improve overall economic conditions, the association added.

“Early reports indicate that the infrastructure piece of stimulus is beginning to do exactly what was intended, put construction workers back on the job,” says Ken Simonson, chief economist for AGC of America.  “As today’s employment report shows, however, construction is still one of the hardest-hit industries in terms of job losses.”

Simonson said that as more and more stimulus-funded projects are awarded, a growing number of member companies are reporting adding new jobs or rehiring laid off employees.  For example, Loch Sand and Construction Co. in Missouri recently rehired 15 workers it laid off last year after receiving a stimulus-funded interstate reconstruction contract. 

Adolfson & Peterson Construction in Minnesota has begun hiring new workers after winning a contract to build a new laboratory in Northern Minnesota with stimulus funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, the economist added.

Meanwhile, Pike Construction in New Hampshire has already hired 30 new employees to help it complete newly awarded road construction projects funded by the stimulus.  Simonson added that other companies, like Pyramid Electrical Contractors in Illinois, have cancelled layoffs and plan to hire new employees due to stimulus-funded work.  

Noting that an estimated 85 percent of construction companies said they would cancel layoffs or add new employees with the stimulus, Simonson said, stimulus funds were keeping a bad business environment from getting substantially worse for many firms.

The latest U.S. Department of Labor employment report for April shows that 110,000 seasonally adjusted jobs were lost in construction, accounting for more than one-fifth of total job losses.  Simonson added that the industry’s 18.7-percent unemployment rate is more than double the national average. 

Sadly, all five construction categories—residential and non-residential building and specialty trade contractors, and heavy and civil engineering construction—shed workers in April and for the past 12-month period, Simonson noted.

Source:  The Associated General Contractors of America