The credit crunch, a slowing economy and growing budget deficits will strip almost 30,000 construction jobs from the city’s workforce by 2010, bringing industry employment to its lowest level in more than 10 years, according to a report released Tuesday by the New York Building Congress.
Employment will fall 23% to 100,250 in the next two years, and could drop even further if efforts to shore up the credit markets don’t bear fruit, the report says. The most substantial losses won’t show up until 2010 as projects financed in flusher times mean construction spending will reach a record $33.8 billion this year, a 16% increase from 2007.
“If we do not solve the credit crunch, I think we could be in for even a greater loss of jobs than is projected,” says Louis Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers’ Association and a vice chairman of the Congress. “I’m really concerned about the future of the industry on both the public and private sides.”
Construction jobs to take hit by 2010
Citywide, nearly 30,000 construction jobs could be lost by 2010 due to the economy, according to a new report. Construction spending will drop 22% to $26.2 billion in the same period.