Forty states and Washington, D.C., lost construction jobs in May, and construction employment is down in 42 states and Washington, D.C., since February 2020, according to www.agc.org.
“Today’s numbers show that impacts from the pandemic on demand for projects and on materials costs and the supply chain are weighing down construction in most parts of the country,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America. “In the few states where industry employment has topped the pre-pandemic levels of February 2020, most gains are likely attributable more to demand for homebuilding and remodeling than to most categories of nonresidential building and infrastructure projects.”
Florida added the most construction jobs from April to May—3,700—and Oklahoma had the largest percentage increase of construction jobs for the month—1.3%. New York lost the largest number of construction jobs (-5,900) and Vermont lost the highest percentage of construction jobs (-3.9%) for the month.
Eight states added construction jobs from February 2020 to May. Utah added the most jobs—5,000—and Idaho had the largest percentage increase during that period—6.2%. Texas lost the most construction jobs from February 2020 to May (-49,100 jobs), and Wyoming had the largest percentage decline (-15.3%).
