The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Employment Situation report shows that from May 2008 through June 2008, employment in construction fell by 43,000 jobs. The unemployment rate in construction is now 8.2. Since the industry’s peak of activity in September 2006, construction employment declined by 528,000 jobs.
In view of these latest statistics, some industry and labor organizations, including the Laborers’ International Union of North America, are calling on the federal government to implement programs that would fix the nation’s aged and decaying infrastructure, which would create thousands of construction jobs and stimulate the foundering economy. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that doing so would require $1.6 trillion over the next five years.
