Construction industry builds up steam, adds 14,000 jobs

[babylonsister]

Construction industry builds up steam, adds 14,000 jobs

The U.S. figures for April mark the first back-to-back monthly gains in that sector since 2006. California still sees a drop in the industry's workforce but at a slower pace.
May 24, 2010|By Alana Semuels, Los Angeles Times

Don Bartletti, Los Angeles Times


The drills, saws and sanders that fell silent during the economic slowdown are beginning to whir again. For the first time in years, U.S. builders are hiring laborers.

The nation's construction industry added 14,000 jobs nationwide in April, according to the Labor Department, marking the first back-to-back monthly gains in that sector since 2006.

In all, 29 states gained construction jobs that month, according to data released Friday by the Associated General Contractors of America. The U.S. industry has been bolstered in part by federal stimulus funds for infrastructure and the slow but steady improvement in the housing market.
Advertisement

Although building jobs have not yet begun to pick up in California, the industry here is showing improvement. The value of permits in California's private building industry totaled $2.2 billion in March 2010, up 8.1% from the same period last year and 29% from February, according to the Construction Industry Research Board. The number of residential building permits issued in the first three months of the year was up 29% from the same period last year.

more...

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/24/business/la-fi-building-jobs-20100524

[NJmaverick]

1. LOL! the haters are unreccing this, which shows how little they care about the people

in our nation

[ShortnFiery]

2. The super-rich are building and buying more homes?

I don't know anyone around here who is doing better. Most people are worse off.

Gee, this grand recovery hasn't his my neighborhood. Bummer. :(

[Kolesar]

5. I am getting a raise

Back dated to January. That is WAY good.

[ShortnFiery]

9. Wow, good for you. The lion's share of the rest of us are not doing

all that well. But again, bully for you.

[dmallind]

6. Ah the "I don't know anybody" school of econometrics always prevails.......NT

[impik]

8. Exactly. It's not like they need to prove it or anything

[NJmaverick]

7. Don't you ever get tired of shoveling the false ant-Dem?Obama talking points?

[Tarheel_Dem]

10. I think it's actually her job. I hope she's paid well. (nt)

[Jennicut]

3. Good to see. My friend's husband was out of work, he is in construction.

He did recently find a job, I hope others do too.

[impik]

4. Un-freakin-believable. People unrec employment. Losers.

[BklnDem75]

13. You'd be surprised...

Well, not really, but they're the same people who's now defending Carville and cheering Bill Nelson. They're not even anti-DLC nor anti-conservadem. They're simply anti-Obama.

[The Straight Story]

11. Glad to hear - but doesn't it go up this time of year every year? (nt)

[old mark]

12. Rec. Thanks.nt

[Peacetrain]

14. Excellent news.. thank you

[tranche]

15. This sounds like good news. But in fairness to the DU downer brigade -- EVERYTHING STILL SUCKS!

[Cha]

16. I'm glad for those people who have jobs now.. I was

looking to see what "29 States gained construction jobs this month".. & didn't see it but I found this at the end..

"Gerardo Hidalgo, a drywall foreman, is just grateful to be back at work.

Taking a lunch break on the building site in Irvine, he said his family of eight can now occasionally eat out and buy nicer things. He's still pinching pennies, though; he ate home-cooked eggs and chiles out of a frying pan that some friends had set up over a portable stove. But he's not complaining.

"We're living much better now, thank God," Hidalgo said. "It was pretty bad."