California's Plan to Force Contractors To Replace Billions Worth of Construction Equipment Will Cost Countless More Construction Jobs Next Year, Construction Group Warns
Over 136,000 construction workers in California have lost their jobs over the past year according to a new analysis of October employment data released by the federal government today. The analysis, conducted by the Associated General Contractors found that only 7 states (Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina and Tennessee) lost a higher percentage of their construction workforce than California.
"The size, scope and duration of the construction job losses in California have been simply catastrophic," said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the association. "Unfortunately, there are far too few green shoots and far too many pink slips on the horizon for the state's construction workers."
Simonson noted that California's seasonally adjusted construction employment has declined for 31 straight months. He added that construction employment in the state is now at the lowest level since June 1998 and down by 334,400 or 35.3 percent from the peak of 948,500 in February 2006. "The state's construction industry has yet to hit bottom," Simonson added.
In addition to California, the biggest percentage losses in construction employment over the year occurred in Nevada (26.9 percent, or 30,200 jobs), Arizona (24.2 percent, or 42,600 jobs), Tennessee (22.3 percent, or 29,300 jobs), Kentucky (20.8 percent, or 17,600 jobs) and Connecticut (19.3 percent or 12,500 jobs). Construction employment, meanwhile, only expanded in North Dakota during the past year, with an increase of 1.9 percent, totaling 400 jobs.
Simonson noted that when compared to September 2009, California shed 2,500 more construction jobs, a decline of 0.4 percent. Nationwide, 33 states (including California and Washington, D.C.) shed construction jobs, 18 added construction jobs, and 2 states remained stable.
Association officials urged the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to reconsider plans to require the state's construction companies to replace billions of dollars worth of construction equipment as part of their "off-road diesel retrofit" rule. They noted that the economic downturn has already done more to reduce construction-related diesel emissions than state regulators predicted. And they warned that forcing contractors to replace much of their equipment next would force even more layoffs in the construction sector while delivering extremely limited environmental benefits.
It's hard to see the upside of putting tens of thousands of people out of work in order to deliver minimal environmental benefits," said Thomas Holsman, AGC of California's chief executive officer. "Getting a few headlines about the state's commitment to the environment shouldn't cost thousands of construction workers their jobs."
View state-by-state employment numbers here.
View year-over-year California employment numbers here, or view the graph here.
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