More than a dozen states across the country saw the addition of new construction jobs last month, according to a new analysis.
Those states are in every region of the nation from West Virginia and North Carolina in the east, to South Dakota in the middle of the country, to Idaho, Utah, and Washington state in the West.
As compiled by the Associated General Contractors of America, the nationwide survey also showed Texas adding 8,900 new construction jobs last month, and Florida up by 6,900 jobs.
Smaller gains were recorded in Connecticut with 1,700 news job, and Delaware, seeing a 700-job gain.
In the West, Arizona picked up 2,500 new construction jobs from August to September; with Colorado reporting an additional 400 new jobs over August. New Mexico, during this same time period, witnessed a loss of 100 jobs.
While the September overall job increases were welcome news, the AGC survey points out that those gains nevertheless took place in only 14 states. Meanwhile, 36 other states last month experienced declines.
In a statement, Ken Simonson, chief economist with the AGC, noted that “construction employment remains below pre-pandemic levels in more than two-thirds of the states.”
Simon pointed to ongoing issues with the international supply chain as well as Congress’ failure to so far pass an infrastructure bill as two reasons why construction employment in so many states remains quiescent.
Looking at the picture from the perspective of the pre-pandemic days of early 2020, the AGC survey ranked Idaho as number one in growth, with a 9.3% increase in construction jobs; followed by Utah, with an 8.2% jump; and South Dakota, up by 8%.
The biggest losers from February 2020 to last month were Louisiana, with a 16.1% decline; followed by Wyoming, off by 15.7%, and New York, down by 11.6%.
By Garry Boulard
