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Construction Employment on the Rise in Tennessee

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  There are indications that construction in Tennessee is starting to rebound.

Unemployment in the construction trades fell in the state by an average of more than nine percent per month over the winter.

Bill Young is a spokesman for the 600 member Associated General Contractors of Tennessee.  He says the AGC’s member companies are now reporting an improved business climate.

“Those numbers of projects that have been bidding across the State of Tennessee have increase…I won’t say “significantly,” but it is a much better forecast than it was two years ago. The indicators are that we’re somewhere between eight and ten increase in the number construction workers on projects in Tennessee.”

Young stresses that construction in the state has not returned to pre-recession levels and he doubts that it will any time soon. He also notes that many construction workers abandoned the field for other trades during the economic downturn.  As a result, Tennessee could actually experience a shortage of qualified employees in the years to come.