R.I. ranks 6th for construction job growth with 1,300 gain in April

ARLINGTON, Va. – Rhode Island added 1,300 construction jobs in the month of April, an 8.1 percent increase over the number of jobs in the state during the same month last year, ranking the Ocean State sixth in the country for highest percentage of construction jobs gained year over year, the Associated General Contractors of America reported.

Massachusetts, which added 2,600 jobs, or 2.2 percent, compared with April of last year, tied with Maryland and the District of Columbia at No. 32.

Construction jobs in the Bay State totaled 123,100 in April, the AGC reported, while the Rhode Island total was 17,300.

On a year-over-year basis, 39 states and the District of Columbia experienced construction job growth in April, while 10 states and the District of Columbia lost jobs and one state (Wyoming) saw no change. Florida led the country with a 12.1 percent increase, adding 43,300 jobs, followed by North Dakota with an increase of 11 percent, or 3,400 jobs, and Nevada, with a 9.4 percent increase, or 5,400 jobs.

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On a monthly basis, between March and April, the AGC noted that construction employment increased in 29 states and the District of Columbia, decreased in 20 states and held steady in Wisconsin. In Rhode Island, the industry’s month-over-month gain of 900 jobs represented a 5.5 percent increase over March.

Massachusetts posted a gain of 200 construction jobs between March and April, an increase of two-tenths of a percent.

“Growing demand for a range of construction services and better weather helped boost construction employment in most states in April,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “But we are still a long way away from getting back to the kind of employment levels the industry experienced nearly a decade ago.”

In its report, the AGC lauded recent congressional action to approve legislation related to funding for road, bridge, waterway and other important infrastructure projects, including the Water Resources Reform & Development Act currently in committee.

“The industry’s recovery will remain on track if these two infrastructure measures continue to receive the kind of strong bipartisan support we saw this week,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, CEO of the AGC. “But if members of Congress really want to help the economy, they need to act quickly to make sure we don’t run out of federal road and bridge repair money by this summer, as the government predicts.”

The Obama administration released an economic report last week warning that if the federal Highway Trust Fund runs out of money this summer, as many as 700,000 construction jobs could be lost in the next year.

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