a:25:{s:9:"weblog_id";s:1:"4";s:8:"entry_id";s:0:"";s:6:"sticky";s:0:"";s:14:"allow_comments";s:1:"n";s:16:"allow_trackbacks";s:1:"n";s:10:"entry_date";s:19:"2009-07-27 08:25 AM";s:15:"expiration_date";s:0:"";s:23:"comment_expiration_date";s:0:"";s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;s:1:"4";}s:9:"author_id";s:1:"2";s:6:"status";s:4:"open";s:14:"trackback_urls";s:0:"";s:18:"versioning_enabled";s:1:"y";s:5:"title";s:51:"MO Construction Employment Better Than Other States";s:9:"url_title";s:51:"mo_construction_employment_better_than_other_states";s:6:"submit";s:6:"Submit";s:11:"field_id_26";s:52:"MO Construction Employment  Better Than Other States";s:11:"field_ft_26";s:4:"none";s:11:"field_id_31";s:0:"";s:11:"field_id_44";s:95:"Missouri placed just below the top third in U.S. construction emploment June \'08 to June \'09.";s:11:"field_ft_44";s:4:"none";s:11:"field_id_28";s:19:"jobs, Simonson, BLS";s:11:"field_ft_28";s:4:"none";s:11:"field_id_29";s:2359:"<p>Good news of an ironic sort: Missouri construction employment isn\'t off as much as other places. But Illinois is a whole other story.</p>
<p>Missouri placed just below the top third in U.S. construction emploment June \'08 to June \'09, according to a report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.&nbsp; The state ranked 18th in total construction jobs, having lost 13,300 jobs since last June. Illinois ranked 32nd in employment, with a loss of 38,100 jobs, June-to-June.</p>
<p>Construction workers continued to bear the pain of steep job losses
almost everywhere in June, as construction employment rose only in
North Dakota (by 5 percent) and Louisiana (4 percent), compared to June
2008, according to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS). Jobs</p>
<p><img alt=\"Job Loss\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"99\" src=\"/images/uploads/job-loss.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"909\" /></p>
<p>disappeared in the remaining 48 states and the District of
Columbia, with losses as great as 26 percent in Arizona, 23 percent in
Nevada, 22 percent in Connecticut and 20 percent in Tennessee, noted
Ken Simonson, the chief economist for the Associated General
Contractors of America.
\"The Recovery Act will start mitigating job losses in all states for
the rest of the year and into 2010,\" said Simonson. \"But the worsening
state and local fiscal picture, along with continued sluggishness in
the private sector, means that nonresidential construction work will
keep shrinking.\"</p>
<p>\"Single-family homebuilders appear finally to have touched bottom
and should begin hiring on net,\" Simonson commented. \"However, the
multi-family market remains moribund, with weak demand, excessive
supply in many states and no credit availability.\"</p>
<p>Simonson urged Congress to act quickly on transferring money into
the federal Highway Trust Fund to avert interruption of payments to
highway contractors that would force more layoffs. He also called for
prompt enactment of pending authorization bills for highways and
transit, aviation and water projects, along with passage of
appropriations bills that include federal construction.</p>
<p>\"All of these bills will deliver both short- and long-term benefits
to the American public, while providing desperately needed jobs for
construction workers in every state,\" he added.</p>";s:10:"category_0";s:1:"4";}