Big change but modest payoff

 / Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
/ Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

The picture is bleak, as it so often is when the subject is Rhode Island’s economic health. The latest study by the Associated General Contractors of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows the Ocean State ranked No. 49 among the 50 states and the District of Columbia when it comes to employment growth (or in this case, loss) in the construction sector for the 12 months through April.

Construction employment fell 800, according to the seasonally adjusted figures, representing a decline of 4.8 percent.

By way of comparison, Massachusetts saw a 1.7 percent gain of 2,100 construction jobs, while Connecticut’s sector grew by 600 jobs, a gain of 1.1 percent. Nationally, construction employment grew 4.6 percent, adding 280,000 jobs year over year.

So it was no coincidence when Gov. Gina M. Raimondo, joined by House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, announced a plan last week to begin tolling large commercial trucks for the privilege of driving through Rhode Island on interstates 95, 195 and 295, as well as routes 6, 10 and 146.

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The 10-year program would pay for a $700 million bond that would be used to repair bridges in the state, cutting by half the 20 percent of bridges that have been deemed structurally deficient, among other improvements.

At the same time, the program could add an average of 1,200 jobs per year for its duration, a minor if welcome salve to the state’s unemployment problem.

Still, the project is far from returning the sector to full employment. In January 1990, there were 18,200 people employed in construction in Rhode Island. In April, that number reached 15,700. Even if the toll plan is implemented and job estimates pan out, the Ocean State will still be short of its 1990 levels of construction employment, much less anywhere near its peak job number of 23,400 in January 2007. •

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