Thirty-seven states have added construction jobs between February 2018 and February 2019, according to an analysis of Labor Department data by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). However, the AGC analysis finds that only 16 states have added jobs between January and February.
Both the annual 12-month increases and month-to-month increases are lower than recent data reports. The AGC reported 44 states added jobs between January 2018 and January 2019 and 33 states added construction jobs between December 2018 and January 2019. Thirty-six states added jobs between November 2018 and December 2018.
AGC officials suggest the slowdown in employment gains may reflect the impact of widespread severe weather on construction as well as the growing shortage of qualified workers.
“Although job growth remains widespread on a year-over-year basis, the combination of exceptionally bad weather and record low unemployment in many states stopped the growth of construction jobs at least temporarily in February,” stated chief economist Ken Simonson. “The record number of job openings in construction reported in the government’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for January shows that finding qualified construction workers is still a challenge.”
Georgia, Florida, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky added the most construction jobs in pure number terms during February, while Alaska, Kentucky, Georgia, New Hampshire, and Arizona added the highest percentage of jobs during the month. California lost the most construction jobs in February while Delaware and Minnesota had the steepest percentage job loss during the month.
