Construction jobs rise 1% in Prov. metro

AMOS HOUSE Community Center in Providence is seen under construction. According to the Associated General Contractors of America, construction jobs grew 1 percent year over year in March in the Providence-Warwick-Fall River metropolitan area. / PBN FILE PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO
AMOS HOUSE Community Center in Providence is seen under construction. According to the Associated General Contractors of America, construction jobs grew 1 percent year over year in March in the Providence-Warwick-Fall River metropolitan area. / PBN FILE PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO

PROVIDENCE – The Providence-Warwick-Fall River metropolitan area ranked 238th among 358 metropolitan areas for its 1 percent year-over-year construction growth in March.
There were 18,100 construction jobs in the Providence metro in March, 200 more jobs than in March 2014.
That placed the metro area among 249 metropolitan areas nationwide that saw construction employment expand in March. Fifty-six metro areas also had construction employment declines and 53 were stagnant, according to data released Wednesday by the Associated General Contractors of America.

Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. added the largest number of construction jobs in the past year (12,400 jobs, 17 percent). The largest percentage gain occurred in Wenatchee, Wash. (33 percent, 600 jobs).
New Orleans-Metairie, La. lost the most jobs year over year at 3,300, or 11 percent, according to the association. The largest percentage decline for the past year was in El Centro, Calif. (-22 percent, -700 jobs).
Association officials said that the outlook for the construction industry remains positive for the remainder of the year, but concerns linger regarding labor shortages and federal infrastructure funding shortfalls.
Officials are asking motorists to take pictures of poor road conditions and bad traffic and tweet those images using the hashtag #DriveBetterRoads to help push for more federal infrastructure funding.
“While it is good to see the industry expanding in many parts of the country, many firms still have plenty of challenges to cope with,” Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s CEO, said in a statement. “Getting Congress to fund needed infrastructure investments and make it easier for firms and school districts to set up construction training programs would certainly help the industry.”

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