Construction employment declined in 20 states and Washington, D.C., from February to March and increased in 41 states from March 2019 to March, according to www.agc.org.
“While construction employment declined in many parts of the country last month, far more states, local governments and project owners have halted construction in the five weeks since the government collected this data,” says Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America. “Our two latest surveys show a steep rise in cancellations of scheduled projects, which is leading to furloughs and terminations for both job-site and office workers.”
Construction employment held steady in six states from February to March and increased in 24 states. During the 12 months ending in March, construction employment declined in seven states and Washington, D.C., and held steady in two states. Data is based on employment as of March 12, before most states or owners began curtailing construction.
Association officials warned that construction job losses were likely to accelerate in many states amid the coronavirus pandemic. They added those job losses will get worse now that several states have canceled or significantly delayed planned highway projects because the pandemic has resulted in dramatic declines in gas tax revenues.
