An Interview with a Lead Drafter of the Green Building Addendum
Construction Industry Sees Job Gains
The construction industry may be starting to see glimmers of hope, adding 14,000 jobs in April, reports the AGC. The April numbers mark the first back-to-back monthly gains since 2006. 29 states gained jobs, the AGC’s chief economist, Ken Simonson reported, totaling 40,000 new jobs added from construction since March. On nonresidential sites, especially, numbers were up with 24,600 jobs in April and 36,500 jobs in March. Still, though, the construction industry’s unemployment rate stands at 21.8 percent, more than double the average nationwide.
Simonson cited stimulus spending as a major factor in the improvement, after more than a year of either paltry growth or continued losses. Still, residential construction lost 10,900 jobs, marking 38 months of decline in that sector. Said Simonson, “Adding forty thousand new jobs in two months is encouraging news. But with nearly 2 million construction workers still unemployed our industry’s recovery is far from certain.”