posted on October 07, 2010 22:21
The San Antonio-New Braunfels metropolitan area lost 1,300 construction jobs during the month of August, according to the latest report from the Associated General Contractors of America.
This represents a 3 percent drop in construction employment for the San Antonio area. In August 2010, there were 46,400 local construction jobs. A year ago, there were 47,700 construction jobs in San Antonio.
Elsewhere in Texas over the same period, Houston lost 11,200 construction jobs. Dallas lost 6,700 jobs. Austin lost 300 jobs.
Despite the reduction in construction jobs, there are some bright spots in the AGC report. Out of 337 metropolitan areas tracked nationwide by the AGC, 56 markets added construction jobs between August 2009 and August 2010.
“With construction employment on the mend in an increasing number of areas, it appears that the worst is finally over,” says Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “The fact remains, however, that this industry has a long way to go before we see construction employment back to pre-recession levels.”
AGC officials say that even as the construction employment outlook improves in some areas, construction unemployment still remains nearly twice as high as the general unemployment rate for the nation. The industry group says Congress is a year late in passing major highway and transit investment legislation.
“The fact that the best news the industry has had in years is that we’re not losing jobs as fast as we were is a reflection of how hard hit construction has been during the downturn,” says Stephen Sandherr, AGC’s CEO. “Too many construction workers remain unemployed while Congress lets long-delayed infrastructure legislation idle.”
September 27th, 2010 | San Antonio Business Journal