Construction employment still weak

Employment in the construction industry held steady in February compared with January, the Associated General Contractors of America said this week.
Using federal statistics, the association said 16,600 people were employed in the construction trades in Rhode Isalnd in February. While that was the same as the previous month, it marked a 9.8 percent dip from February 2009. The only state to see an increase in employment was Alaska, which registered a year-over-year gainof 0.6 percent – or just 100 jobs.
“With only one exception, the construction jobs picture varies from bleak to bad all across the country,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “We can’t afford to turn our back on any opportunity to boost investments in infrastructure and construction.”
Association officials pointed to continued weakness in construction employment in urging U.S. senators to authorize an expansion of a range of infrastructure bonding programs including Build America Bonds. The bonds, which first were made available as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, have already been used to provide more than $70 billion to finance 834 different infrastructure projects.
But in Rhode Island, as of late November, only Providence had taken advantage of the bonds, issuing $12 million worth of them in July for unspecified road improvements, with the federal government promising to pay 35 percent of the interest payments over the 12-year term.
Local municipal officials told Providence Business News last fall that bleak budgets and a dearth of projects meant no Build America Bonds.
That has not stopped the association from encouraging an expansion of the program on a national basis.
“In terms of boosting employment, supporting the economy and repairing our aging infrastructure, infrastructure bonds are about as low hanging fruit as you get,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer. “Expanding these programs won’t fix all our problems, but it will give workers new opportunities and our businesses a competitive edge.”