U.S. Business News: Grab your tool belt
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Two-point-one million. That’s how many construction jobs we’ve lost in the United States since 2006. We’ve seen plenty in the media since the start of the housing downturn on how homeowners have been impacted. I don’t know that many of us have given much thought to the 20 percent-plus unemployment rate among construction workers and its impact on the macroeconomy.
What some are calling the “tool-belt recession” is having a negative multiplier effect, according to Bracken Hendricks, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, which issued a report on the construction-industry situation last week.
The impact is felt most significantly by the workers directly affected, of course, but also affected are manufacturing entities that service the construction industry, all the way down to retail stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot.
Hendricks talked on the AFP Show news podcast on our sister site AugustaFreePress.com last week of the Center for American Progress assessment of what can be done at the policy level to get the country out of the construction funk. The idea borrows from the same concept at the heart of the stimulus package. The Center is calling for Congress to launch a Home Star program that includes incentives for homebuyers to invest in the energy efficiency of their homes, which will jumpstart demand for labor.
“It’s been called Cash for Caulkers, and the analogy is not perfect, but it’s a good analogy in that what Cash for Clunkers did was it used the auto industry to get money into consumers’ hands. It didn’t create a new government program, it didn’t establish a new bureaucracy. It used the market and the industry to put money into consumers’ hands to increase demand,” Hendricks said.
“With demand for construction jobs at near depression levels, stimulating consumer demand for residential energy efficiency is a smart business. It creates high-paying jobs for idled construction workers, boosts sales of American-made building materials, and saves consumers money,” Hendricks said.
“American companies are ready to hire back crews if we can jumpstart demand for projects. Home-performance contracting for energy efficiency is one bright spot on the horizon for the building trades today,” Hendricks said.
More information on the proposal is here.
“What the recession is all about is a contraction of demand rippling across the economy and leading to a jobs crisis. So if we can do anything to jumpstart demand in the building and construction trades, it will help get crews back on the job,” Hendricks said.
