HOUSTON, April 15 /PRNewswire/ — McGraw-Hill Construction and The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) hosted the Texas Economic Stimulus & Recovery Watch Strategic Briefing in Houston today to provide actionable information about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to the local construction industry. In Texas, the ARRA will provide $17 billion total in funding. Non-residential construction projects, such as the $1.46 billion for the Houston Metro and $1 billion for road projects, have the potential to support 90,000 jobs for the state, based on Federal Highway Administration estimates.

"The construction industry faces divergent forces this year," said Robert Murray, vice president of economic affairs, McGraw-Hill Construction, during the keynote address. "The federal stimulus act will cushion the impact of the economic recession, and we estimate that new construction starts for 2009 will be $463.1 billion, down 15%, but significantly supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and its impact on public works."

According to Ken Simonson, chief economist of The Associated General Contractors of America, total construction spending will decline -1% to -7% this year, with residential spending staying between -2% and +2% and non-residential spending going down -3% to -9%. Materials costs are expected to decline between -4% and 0%; and labor costs will rise +3% to +4%. For Texas, construction employment is recently down -6% compared with last year, but Simonson expects Texas and the Gulf region's construction industry employment to level out soon, buoyed by the ARRA. Nationwide, construction industry employment is down -11.1%.

This event is one of a series presented by McGraw-Hill Construction and the AGC in cities across the U.S. Upcoming sessions will take place in Chicago on April 22 and Atlanta on April 24. For more information, visit http://construction.com/stimulus or http://www.agc.org/stimulus.

Further economic information is also available in the 2009 Construction Outlook Spring Update, a mainstay of business planning for construction and manufacturing industry executives that provides updated 2009 national forecasts of construction starts for various project types.

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