Construction employment in New York City is expected to drop by 8.3% this year, but, according to a report from the New York Building Congress released in late-October, that number represents a significant shift from last year’s doomsday prediction.The Building Congress’ annual Construction Outlook predicts that despite a 20% drop in construction spending for 2009 – down to $25.8 billion from $32.4 billion in 2008 – the number of jobs lost this year will top out around 11,000. A year ago, the same report anticipated the industry would lose 30,000 in 2009.
“What we found in terms of employment was reassuring,” says Richard T. Anderson, president of the Building Congress. “This is still a strong construction market. It’s not collapsing by any means.”Anderson points to the strength of the public sector as reason for cautious optimism heading into 2010 with about 60 percent of construction activity coming from government spending on mass transit, schools and other infrastructure projects.“Government projects remain the largest source and primary driver of construction activity in the city,” he adds.The outlook isn’t so rosy in other sectors, Anderson concedes. The residential construction will have produced fewer than 6,300 units by the end of 2009 while the previous five years saw more than 30,000 new units.