The Detroit Free Press reported some good news yesterday when it ran an article stating that construction jobs have reached an 11-year high in the metro Detroit area.
In a glimmer of good news on the economy, a major building group, the Associated General Contractors, said Tuesday that the metro area has added 1,800 constructions jobs in the 12 months ending June 30th, AGC said.
“It has been too long since we have had news like this to report in Detroit,” said Todd Doenitz, chairman of AGC of Michigan and vice president of the Walled Lake – based firm Fastdecks. “From a construction point of view, it looks like this area’s slump has finally come to an end.”
Brian Turmail, an AGC spokesman, said most of the new construction work nationally stems from private sector demand for commercial work, including universities, health care facilities and electrical generation, plus some multi-family developments.
The building trades were devastated in Michigan during the recession and real estate crash. New home construction dropped dramatically, and tens of thousands of construction jobs disappeared. Now some of those jobs appear to be making a return thanks to projects like Children’s Hospital of Michigan’s Specialty Center, part of the Detroit Medical Center’s expansion. Doenitz and other AGC leaders spoke at the job site Tuesday. They noted that the four-story, 105,550-square-foot medical center will be finished by next year.
This report from AGC mirrors that from the State of Michigan, which said last month that the construction industry added 11,000 jobs in Michigan over the 12 months ending June 40th.
Prior to the real estate crash, Michigan construction firms employed about 190,000 workers. That dipped to fewer than 120,000 by June 2010, but has climbed back to about 130,000 today, according to last month’s report from the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget.
So some much-needed good news for Michigan – it’s about time we say!!
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