Employment in Construction Increases

Employment construction is showing improvements as the number of construction jobs has increased in the vast majority of metropolitan areas from the period of February 2011 to February of 2012. In certain areas, the construction employment declined and in several areas, the construction employment stayed the same. The information was recently released by data that was collected from the Associated General Contractors of America. Data shows that the construction employment is growing and showing signs of improvement. It is believed the growth is due to an increase in demand for general construction, especially within the private sector.

Ken Simonson, a chief economist, says that the number is quite encouraging, especially for those who work within the construction field. Simonson believes there would have been much more of an increase if the public sector and its budget were not so shaky right now. Construction workers are still waiting for a bill to be passed for funding on certain construction projects, which would ultimately put more construction workers back to work, giving them more things to do.

Both Atlantic City and Hammonton, New Jersey managed to have the highest percentage of growth when it came to construction jobs. There was an increase of 33 percent throughout the span of exactly one year. Many of the other areas, including Michigan City, Denver, Philadelphia, Long Beach, and Los Angeles saw some sort of growth when it came to construction employment.

There were also some declines in construction employment in certain areas. The Illinois area, particularly Chicago, Joliet, and Naperville, seemed to deal with the largest drop of construction employment, with a -5 percent decline in available construction jobs.

Officials stated that spending for construction within the private sector increased by a whopping 10 percent, which was actually a large increase. They also said that because the state is dealing with certain budgets, construction activity was not as active as it should have been. A lot of federal projects are being delayed because of the budget, which is also delaying an increase of construction employment.

Many people feel optimistic about the number of construction jobs being added but some are still worried about the employment levels, as they are still quite low. Many also worry about public sector spending simply because if projects continue being put on hold and the spending declines, construction employment levels are not going to get better and will actually get worse, leading to many construction workers being put out of work, with no other option.