"There's nothing. There's absolutely nothing," says unemployed carpenter, Ralph Dunning.
The foreclosure crisis continues to hammer the California's construction industry. The number of jobs shrinks every day, as builders decide to hold off because too many houses are on the market.
Carpenter Ralph Dunning has been out of work since October and is desperate.
"There's no work. If you look in the papers anymore, there's no ads for construction and carpenters. There used to be a number of them."
The number of jobs in California for construction totaled more than 843,000 last month.
That's down nearly 13,000 or one-and-a-half percent, from December and down 69,000, or 7.6 percent since January of 07.
"Construction just is not what it used to be anymore," says Dunning.
In contrast, other sectors of construction are growing, like public works, and those jobs need to be filled. Billions of new bond money is on the way for numerous statewide projects.
"California made the decision to make an investment in infrastructure, freeways, schools, and levees," says Victoria Bradshaw, CA Labor Secretary.
The Governor's Office announced $10 million dollars in grant money available as early as next week to re-train home construction workers, for public works jobs. It's encouraging news for
"We all want to work. We all need to work. So we need to get something going out there."
Keep in mind, the training doesn't guarantee a job. It just gives the construction workers another skill, that should help them find one.
