Construction employment falls again

PROVIDENCE – Employment in the construction sector in Rhode Island and Massachusetts fell during June compared with the same month last year, the Associated General Contractors of America said this week.
The association said the construction industry employed 17,300 people in Rhode Island in June, down 4 percent – or 700 jobs – from a year earlier. In Massachusetts, the industry employed 114,600 people in June, down 1 percent – or 1,700 jobs – from the same month last year. The association said 43 states and Washington, D.C., showed year-over-year declines in construction employment.
The declines happened despite $135 billion from the federal stimulus law being spent on construction projects.
“The overall lack of demand for new construction is hurting more than the stimulus is helping at this point,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “While more metropolitan areas have started adding construction jobs, most are still experiencing losses nearly four years after the construction downturn began.”
Simonson said that continued weak private, state and local demand for construction was taking a broad toll on construction employment. And he said overall demand for construction is unlikely to recover until well after stimulus money runs out.