Only four out of 337 cities added construction jobs in 2009
Construction spending drops to lowest level in 6 years
Jeffrey Yoders -- Building Design & Construction, 2/1/2010 11:47:39 PM
Construction employment grew in only four out of 337 metropolitan areas in 2009 as spending on construction projects dropped by $100 billion in December to a six-year low of $903 billion, according to a new analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of federal figures released recently.
"The impact of the stimulus is clearly being overshadowed by the sweeping downturn in overall construction demand," said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. "Without those public investments however, a bad employment situation will only get worse during 2010."
Simonson noted new Census Bureau figures released today show that private non-residential spending dropped 18 percent compared to December 2008. He added that only power construction increased from year-ago levels, by 14 percent. Developer-financed categories recorded especially large declines, including lodging (down 46 percent); retail, warehouse and farm (down 37 percent); and office (down 35 percent).
In contrast, publicly-funded construction increased by 1.0 percent between December 2008 and 2009, Simonson noted. He added that stimulus spending helped boost highway and street construction by 3.7 percent, making it the largest public category. Educational construction, however, dropped 4.0 percent during the year. Private residential construction dropped 11 percent for the year as multi-family construction tumbled, even thought spending on single family housing has increased for seven months in a row.
Simonson said the declines in construction spending were leading to layoffs in almost every community in America. Leominster-Fitchburg, Mass., lost a larger percentage of its construction work force (38 percent) during 2009 than any other metropolitan area according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics figures. The agency includes mining and logging with construction in most metro areas to prevent disclosure about industries with few employees.
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