 
Is the Stimulus Working? One Economist Says Yes
February 16, 2010
Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of President Obama signing the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which included an estimated $135 billion dedicated
to a host of construction activity. "The legislation held great promise for
a construction industry that was just beginning to feel the pain of our sharp
economic downturn," said Ken Simonson, chief economist with the Associated
General Contractor of America. "In the past 12 months since the stimulus
was enacted conditions have gone from bad to worse. Construction spending has
declined by $100 billion prompting nearly 1 million layoffs on top of the 1.1
million that had already occurred. Today almost 1 in 4 construction workers are
unemployed and many once driving firms are wondering if 2010 will be there last
year in business. But as dire as conditions are in the industry, things would
have been much worse without the stimulus. Taken on the basic measure of whether
stimulus has helped the economy and supporting jobs: yes."
Simonson, along with several contractors, discussed the impact of the Stimulus
during a conference call held this afternoon. And while there has been speculation
over the past year as to whether the Stimulus would indeed help the construction
industry, those on the call today said it indeed has helped them.
"The stimulus is saving construction jobs, driving the demand for new
equipment and delivering better and more efficient infrastructure in the economy,"
said Simonson. "The latest federal employment report showed that heavy and
civil engineering remained stable in the past month while total employment declined
by 75,000. Given heavy and civil engineering are the categories that have seen
the most stimulus benefits so far it shows the stimulus has really made a difference
compared to the other categories that have not gotten stimulus money."
So, if the Stimulus was such a success why is so much of the construction industry,
particular the architectural segment, suffering from low unemployment levels?
"The sad fact is that overall declines in construction demand overwhelmed
the benefits of the stimulus," said Simonson. "While the stimulus made
$135 billion available for construction, those funds were spread out over several
years. Worse, questions about 'buy American' provisions and the fact that federal
and state contracting officials were overwhelmed by having more money than they
could get out promptly has slowed the distribution of non-transportation stimulus
funds. As a result the benefits of the stimulus in 2009 were concentrated in road
construction."
However, Simonson quickly pointed out the bright side, explaining that the
delays in construction spending other than transportation in 2009 means there
should be significantly more stimulus opportunities for contractors in 2010.
"We expect many more construction projects to come online, especially
for building contractors. Work will provide a much-needed lifeline for contractors
allowing them to retain many of their workers," said Simonson. "Current
trends in private sector and local and state government construction demand, however,
mean the stimulus is unlikely to change current construction employment levels.
With that said, the Stimulus will keep a bad situation from deteriorating further
the best way to guarantee that construction job are preserved is continuing
to fund infrastructure investments; these are not just creating short-term construction
worker and supplier jobs, but are adding to the nation's stock of infrastructure
that will page dividends and higher productivity competiveness and safety for
decades."
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