Construction employment gains over the last year represent a scattershot picture, with no one region doing significantly better or worse than another, according to a new survey.
Published by the Washington-based Associated General Contractors of America, the survey shows that Texas added the most construction jobs between September 2022 and September 2023, with a gain of 19,900.
Next up is California, with the addition of 14,100 jobs, followed by Ohio, up over the last year by 12,700 jobs.
A thumbnail sketch of the trends would indicate that the nation’s largest states were seeing the largest construction employment growth. But that theory falls shorts with the next states on the list: Georgia and Louisiana, both up by 10,700 new jobs.
In a statement, Ken Simonson, chief economist with the AGC, noted that the nation’s construction industry “continues to add employees nearly everywhere on a year-over-year basis.”
At the other end of the spectrum, Missouri saw the greatest construction employment losses in the last 12 months, with a decline of 6,500 jobs; followed by Colorado, off by 4,200 jobs; and North Carolina, recording a job loss of 2,300 jobs.
Arizona, meanwhile, was up by around 3,000 jobs since September 2022; with New Mexico posting an equally robust increase of 3,600 jobs.
Looked at from a more immediate perspective, job gains between August and September of this year were recorded in 28 states, as well as the District of Columbia, with Oregon, Tennessee, and California seeing the most growth.
In a press release, the AGC noted that “month-over-month dips in construction employment in some parts of the country were likely caused by firms struggling to find enough workers to replace retiring ones amid labor shortages.”
By Garry Boulard
