The Associated General Contractors of America says the D.C. area is one of the 324 U.S. metro areas that reported construction employment declines from August 2008 to August 2009.
Construction unemployment stands at 16.5 percent, nearly twice the national average.
The Arlington-based organization outlined a plan this week to revive the U.S. construction industry, which includes a mix of new incentives, tax cuts, policy revisions and infrastructure investments.
From August 2008 to August 2009, the D.C. metro area lost seven percent of its construction workforce with 900 jobs lost, said the report.
The hardest hit area of the U.S. was Reno-Sparks, Nev., which lost 35 percent of its construction workforce. Other hard-hit locations included Tucson, Ariz., Wenatchee, Wash., and Redding, Calif. Only 13 out of the 337 metro areas studied did not report declines.
Columbus, Ind. was the only community to see a double-digit increase in employment declines, up 14 percent.
AGC says investments in construction are likely to fall by as much as $193 billion this year, an 18 percent drop compared to last year.
Construction jobs account for five percent of the U.S. workforce, yet 20 percent of the jobs lost during the recession have been in construction.
Some points of AGC’s recovery plan for the construction industry include:
Stimulate new private-sector construction activity, which accounts for 70 percent of the market
Repeal alternative minimum tax and increase and extend a series of tax credits and cuts - including the net operating loss carry back and the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts - to boost investments in real estate development
New incentives on global investment in real estate to make it easier for international investors to put Americans back to work
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