Construction employment increased from July to August in 31 states and Washington, D.C, according to www.agc.org.
“The ongoing pandemic is prompting ever more private owners, developers, and public agencies to delay and cancel projects,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, citing the association’s mid-June survey and a more recent survey it produced in August. “The share of contractors that reported postponed or canceled projects nearly doubled while the share who reported winning new or expanded work dropped nearly in half.”
California added the most construction jobs from July to August—6,700—and New Mexico had the largest percentage increase of construction jobs for the month—6.7%. Nevada lost the largest number of construction jobs (-2,600), and Hawaii lost the highest percentage of construction jobs (-3.5%) for the month.
From August 2019 to August, 10 states and Washington, D.C., added construction jobs and 39 states lost jobs. Utah added the most construction jobs during the year—8,800—and South Dakota had the largest year-over-year percentage increase—10.9%. California lost the most construction jobs during the year (-52,00 jobs), and Vermont had the largest percentage decline (-29.6%).
