Iowa road construction worker employment numbers increase by 30 percent in 2009
AMES, Iowa – Oct. 28, 2009 –The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) reports the number of private sector workers on Iowa DOT-let construction projects for the last full week in July 2009 was 5,268, which is 31.5% higher than the same period last year and nearly 30 percent higher than the same time period’s prior five year average.
Employment numbers in highway construction activities have not been this high since 2001 when the number was 5,478. In addition to more workers on the job, the Iowa DOT contracted with 423 different companies for the 2009 reporting period, compared with 318 companies in 2008. The Iowa DOT conducts a contractor/contractor employee census annually as a part of a report to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
“Iowa ranks second in the nation in the speed with which we put the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act highway funds to use. We felt like we were making a difference by getting these funds injected quickly into Iowa’s road construction industry. This data confirms just that. These funds directly impacted the level of employment and Iowa’s dedication to getting projects moving forward quickly helped bring people back to work,” said Iowa DOT Director Nancy Richardson.
Scott Newhard, vice president of Associated General Contractors of Iowa, said “This increase in employment is solely related to increased federal funding. The recovery act allowed us to call people back to work who would not have been called this year, plus a number of companies were able to add workers.”
The employment figures represent workers employed during the last full week in July, deemed to be the height of the construction season. This timeframe was chosen by the federal government to be used as a snapshot of construction activity for the season. Each year the Iowa DOT is required to report these employment numbers for construction work on federal-aid highway projects. The Iowa DOT takes this reporting a step further and collects the same data for all DOT-let projects.
Contractor employment numbers
Last full week in July
|
|
Number of employees |
|
2004 |
4,259 |
|
2005 |
4,050 |
|
2006 |
3,895 |
|
2007 |
4,145 |
|
2008 |
4,005 |
|
2009 |
5,268 |
Also included in the data collection was information on work force data and trends across various trade job categories. The full report is available at http://www.iowadot.gov/contracts/job_counts_report.pdf
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Contact: Roger Bierbaum at 515-239-1414 or [email protected]