The Associated General Contractors of America says the pandemic has hit the construction industry hard. Spokesperson Brian Turmail says nationally, 68 percent of construction firms report having at least one project that was underway canceled or delayed since the start of the pandemic and Louisiana is part of that trend.
“New Orleans had the fifth largest total loss in construction jobs and the seventh highest rate of construction job losses out of the 358 metro areas the association tracks,” said Turmail.
New Orleans saw construction jobs dip by 2,800 from March 2019 to March 2020, a 10 percent drop. Turmail says metros across south Louisiana are seeing the worst of the state’s over-the-year downward trends.
“Construction employment also declined by 4,600 jobs and 18 percent in Lake Charles, by 2,000 jobs and 4 percent in Baton Rouge,” said Turmail.
Shreveport saw 100 construction jobs lost, down 1 percent.
CEO of the Louisiana AGC Ken Naquin says increased investment in infrastructure could help mitigate the economic downturn by putting more people back to work in high-paying construction careers.
“Franklin D. Roosevelt brought the country out of the Great Depression by building public works projects, so there is no better way to restart, to rekick the economy than to spend it on infrastructure,” said Naquin.
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