Construction continued to hemorrhage jobs in September, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. Compared to September 2008, the industry has lost 15 percent of its positions compared to a 4 percent job reduction for the overall nonfarm economy. Employers cut 51,000 jobs from the nonresidential building, specialty trade, and heavy and civil engineering sectors last month.

While the overall unemployment rate went up to 9.8 percent (seasonally adjusted) in September, the unemployment rate for the construction industry was 17.1 percent (not seasonally adjusted). That's up from the industry's 9.9 percent unemployment rate a year earlier. Construction remains the industry with the highest unemployment rate, according to AGC.

Construction spending for August totaled $942 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate. That's down 12 percent from the August 2008 spending level, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Highway and street construction, however, is up 3.1 percent over the past year thanks to the $27 billion in highway and bridge spending appropriated in this year's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Interest Groups Call for Quick Passage of Transportation Bill

The construction equipment industry has been hard hit by the economic slump, according to an IHS Global Insight study released last week. Spending on construction equipment has fallen by more than 50 percent compared to its peak in 2006, IHS Global Insight found. The economic output of this industry has contracted by nearly 40 percent with a 37 percent loss in jobs.

Recovery of the construction equipment industry is being hampered, in part, by a scarcity of new federal investment in needed transportation improvements, the study found.

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers has partnered with the Associated Equipment Distributors to launch a campaign called "Start Us Up USA!" The campaign calls on the federal government to authorize long-term funding for road construction to spur a jobs recovery. A kickoff rally took place Sept. 29 in Las Vegas with supporters calling on Congress to enact a transportation authorization this year or early in 2010 before the spring construction season begins.

"We cannot have the economy we want with the transportation system we have," said Dennis Slater, AEM president. "Our country simply cannot afford to wait 18 months for long-term investment that will provide comprehensive solutions for our transportation challenges and create jobs."

The Obama administration has asked Congress for an 18-month extension of the previous surface transportation authorization, which expired Sept. 30 and is now operating under a one-month continuing resolution. (see related story)

More information about the campaign is available at www.startusupusa.com.

The National Stone, Sand, & Gravel Association sent a letter Tuesday to members of Congress expressing "dismay" at Congress' failure to pass a long-term transportation bill.

"The industry needs the certainty provided by a multiyear bill in order for planning and resource allocation purposes," states the letter from Jennifer Joy Wilson, the association's president and CEO. "NSSGA urges Congress to act immediately to extend the current surface transportation law, restore the money lost to the rescission, and work on a multiyear reauthorization essential to prevent any further damage that delay and inaction will cause to our nation's surface transportation and to our weakened economy."