Thirty-three states and Washington, D.C., added construction jobs in October as contractors continued to face labor challenges, according to Associated General Contractors of America. Forty-one states added construction jobs during the past year.
“Year-over-year job growth has become more widespread in construction despite slowing down in other sectors,” said Ken Simonson, AGC’s chief economist. “Still more states would have posted gains in construction employment if there were enough qualified workers available to hire.”
Louisiana added the most construction jobs from September to October—3,400—and had the largest percentage increase of construction jobs for the month—2.5%. During the past 12 months, Texas added the most construction jobs—38,800—and Alaska had the largest percentage increase—19.1%.
Florida lost the largest number of construction jobs (-5,400) for the month and Iowa had the largest percentage decline (-2.1%). During the past 12 months, New York lost the most construction jobs (-9,200) and Oregon had the largest percentage decline (-4.3%).
