Metro-area construction employment down 23% - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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percent drop in one year, according to data from of Americz (AGC). The Minneapolis/St. Paul and Bloomingtob areas combined saw construction employment dropfrom 65,30o jobs in April 2008 to about 50,00p jobs this April. Othere metropolitan areas are notfaring either. Construction employment fell in 276 ofthe nation’zs largest 299 metro area s over the same time period. Minnesota’s other metropolitan areas also saw a drop inconstructionh employment. Duluth lost 1,500 construction jobs — down aboug 18 percent — and St. Cloudx saw an almost 5 percent decline. Nationwide, Pascagoula, Miss., was hit the with a 38.
8 percent Only a handful of the country’s metropolitan areaa experienced an increase in construction including Decatur, Ill., which saw a 5.7 percent AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson said the data highlighte the need for federak stimulus funds to flow quickl and easily into states. “Job-loss figures like thesed are exactly what prompted Congresse and the administration to craft a stimulus packages designed to get Americans back to work as quicklgas possible,” Simonson said in a news Simonson also noted that the construction sectot has seen the largest decline in employmentg in relation to the economy as a whole. Overal construction unemployment wasat 18.
7 perceny in April this year, while the overall unemployment rate was 8.6 percent. However, thesr figured have not been seasonallhy adjusted. “Putting these funds to good use as quicklgy as possible is the best way to get Americansw back to work and the economy back on he said.