WASHINGTON, DC-Ken Simonson believes that once burned, twice shy. The chief economist for Associated General Contractors of America has made optimistic predictions before based on early-year job returns, only to see the promise, as he says, “fizzle.” So he's unwilling, given recent job returns, to make glowing predictions.
And Stephen E. Sandherr, the association's CEO, clearly agrees: “With current conditions, one misguided regulation and one missed investment opportunity could cost a lot of hard-working construction workers their jobs.”
The locally based association's analysis of June market conditions reveals that an equal number of states gained and lost construction jobs (see page 3). “Job gains and losses were quite different last month from the patterns in the past several years as some lagging states—notably Nevada—added workers, while former high-flyers, such as Texas, had layoffs,” says Simonson. “On a year-over-year basis, construction employment has increased in more than two-thirds of the states, but nearly all states lag their pre-recession peaks for construction jobs.”
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John Salustri
John Salustri has covered the commercial real estate industry for nearly 25 years. He was the founding editor of GlobeSt.com, and is a four-time recipient of the Excellence in Journalism award from the National Association of Real Estate Editors.
