Slight Improvement in Unemployment Rate for Construction Workers

Long-Term Highway Bill Could Build America and Put Americans Back to Work

Washington, D.C. (October 3, 2014) –Terry O’Sullivan, General President of LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – made the following statement on the Bureau of Labor Statistics September jobs report showing slight improvement in the construction unemployment rate from 7.7% to 7% in September:

“This month’s jobs report shows that small gains have been made in putting construction workers back to work.  The unemployment rate for construction workers continues to lag behind the nation’s 5.9% with 604,000 construction workers remaining jobless. This reinforces the need for Congress to pass a full-investment long-term reauthorization this year. With so many still out of work in the public sector and our nation’s infrastructure crumbling, investment in our roads and bridges is a no-brainer.”

 

“A long-term Highway Bill would not only create hundreds of thousands of good jobs for Americans, but would begin to put us on the correct path to repairing our country’s failing infrastructure. We will continue working, on behalf of millions of construction workers, with policymakers on both sides to fight for good jobs and the safety of our roads and bridges.”