Thirty-four states and Washington, D.C., added construction jobs in October, and construction employment is down in 33 states since February 2020 amid labor shortages, according to www.agc.org.
“Although activity picked up in most states in October, construction employment remains below pre-pandemic levels in two out of three states,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America. “The record number of job openings shows contractors are eager to hire more workers but can’t find enough qualified applicants.”
Louisiana added the most construction jobs from September to October—8,200—and had the largest percentage increase of construction jobs for the month—7.1%. South Carolina lost the largest number of construction jobs (-1,900) and New Hampshire lost the highest percentage of construction jobs (-2.2%) for the month.
Sixteen states and Washington, D.C., added construction jobs from February 2020 to October. Utah added the most jobs—8,200—and South Dakota had the largest percentage increase during that period—10.5%. Texas lost the most construction jobs from February 2020 to September (-46,400 jobs), and Wyoming had the largest percentage decline (-14%).
