Economist: Stimulus package calls for $90 billion to be spent on construction, will create 670,000 new construction jobs

Interesting Associated Press article that came out yesterday about the $825 billion economic stimulus package.

In the article, which runs in a question-and-answer format, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, says the stimulus package will reduce the number of jobs lost in the next two years, not stop workers from losing jobs. Without the package, however, roughly 8 million jobs will be lost by the end of 2010, pushing the unemployment rate to more than 11 percent. If the stimulus is approved, he forecasts that job losses will be held to 5 million and the jobless rate will peak at 9 percent.

That said, by spending roughly $90 billion building and repairing highways, bridges, mass transit systems, and other infrastructure projects, the stimulus proposal will create about 670,000 new construction jobs by the end of 2010, Zandi said.

Ed