“Missing Two-thirds of the Iceberg”

During a recent webcast sponsored by Reed Construction Data, the Associated General Contractors and the American Institute of Architects, AGC chief economist Ken Simonson cast an interesting light on job creation claims related to work funded by the American Recovery and Investment Act.

“I think we’re missing about 2/3 of the iceberg,” Simonson stated.  “Past studies have shown that only about 1/3 of the jobs created by nonresidential construction are direct jobs that a contractor would know about and report.”  Simonson says many jobs created by stimulus funds are, in his words, “invisible” – meaning they are jobs created for those companies that might supply and/or service government contractors, or “induced” jobs created by increased spending done by construction employees and owners.
If you missed the original webcast, you can still view it online here.