Employment in the construction industry increased 2.8 percent in July from June, but remains down 11.2 percent for the year, the Associated General Contractors of America reported last week.
The association released figures that showed Rhode Island as one of just 13 states that gained jobs. It estimated 500 more people joined the construction industry in July, which employed about 18,300 people at the time.
The decline in Rhode Island tracks in the middle of the pack with other states. States that saw the steepest drops during the past 12 months include Arizona (28 percent), Connecticut (21.9 percent), Kentucky (20.8 percent) and Michigan (20 percent). No states gained jobs within the past year, but Mississippi neither lost nor added construction jobs.
“There aren’t a lot of places construction workers can turn to avoid the steep layoffs sweeping the construction industry right now,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s CEO. “Sadly, construction workers are feeling the full impact of declining state spending, a near halt in office and retail construction and stimulus spending that … has yet to materialize.”
Sandherr said the figures show that state and federal governments must move faster to allocate stimulus money.
For more information about the Associated General Contractors of America, a trade organization that represents more than 32,000 leading firms, visit www.agc.org.
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