A closer look at construction employment trends put together by the Associated General Contractors of America shows job increases pretty much throughout the West over the course of the last year.
Crunching numbers originally compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the AGC analysis reveals a 6.3% increase in jobs in Arizona from January of 2023 to January of this year, with the overall numbers jumping from 205,700 to 218,600.
During this same period of time New Mexico also posted a 3.7% gain, from 51,400 to around 53,300 jobs.
Always booming Texas continued to boom with a 3% gain representing 837,600 new jobs, compared with 813,100 in early 2023.
Other Western states such as Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming, also saw construction job growth. Colorado, however, normally on the upside in such studies, posted a decline year over year, with 183,200 jobs in January of this year, compared with 184,000 200 in January of 2023.
The states with the largest raw job growth were all, not surprisingly, the nation’s largest states, with California up by 44,600 new jobs, followed by Florida at 27,200, and Texas with 24,500.
States in the East, meanwhile, mostly saw job losses, with New York leading the way with a 3% decline and drop from 396,900 in early 2023 to 384,900 in January of this year.
By Garry Boulard
