The nation needs to spend $1.7 trillion by 2020 to shore up its infrastructure, or it could lose more than 876,000 jobs, and hold back the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth by $3.1 trillion in the next nine years, according to a new report by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

Investing in infrastructure, especially highways and transit systems, would also create and save jobs and rejuvenate manufacturing, the ASCE said in the report released earlier this month. Download the full report, “Failure To Act,” here.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka agrees:

This report confirms what we have known for some time: If we do not substantially invest in infrastructure soon, we will put our economy, American business and American working families at risk.

Small investments in infrastructure, equal to about 60 percent of what Americans spend on fast food each year, would protect 1.1 million jobs; save Americans 180 million hours in travel time annually; deliver an average of $1,060 to each family; and protect $10,000 in GDP for every man, woman and child in the United States, the ASCE report said.

The United States currently plans to spend about half of what is needed—$877 billion by 2020—to rebuild the infrastructure. If the state of the nation’s infrastructure is not addressed, the economy would lose jobs and those who are able to find work will find their paychecks cut by nearly 30 percent, ASCE also found.

Investing in infrastructure is one thing on which both the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce agree. In a statement, Chamber President Tom Donohue said:

Without more robust economic growth, the U.S. will not create the 20 million jobs needed in the next decade to replace those lost during the recession and to keep up with a growing workforce, will not have the revenue to get the deficit under control, will not have the ability to keep pace with global competitors, and will not be able to provide our children and grandchildren with a better future.

Last February, Trumka and Donohue testified before Congress, calling for massive investment in infrastructure. Trumka told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that infrastructure investments not only create jobs directly tied to specific projects but “will also boost our manufacturing sector.” 

These projects create substantial long-term employment in manufacturing, design and engineering when we use the domestic U.S. supply chain to produce the materials that will be needed—from concrete, wire, steel and pipes to high-speed trains. And all this restores revenues for state and local public services struggling with budget holes as well.

Click here to read Trumka’s full testimony and here for Donohue’s.