Construction employment increased from August to September in 32 states, according to www.agc.org. However, only eight states and Washington, D.C., have recovered the pandemic-induced losses of construction jobs that occurred in the spring.
“New spikes in coronavirus cases, along with ongoing pandemic-related costs and revenue losses, are causing 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. “Although single-family homebuilding is gathering steam, multifamily and nonresidential construction activity has stalled, leaving large numbers of workers at risk of losing their jobs as current projects finish up with nothing on the horizon.”
New York added the most construction jobs from August to September—5,300—and Vermont had the largest percentage increase of construction jobs for the month—4.7%. Illinois lost the largest number of construction jobs (-3,000), and Iowa lost the highest percentage of construction jobs (-2%) for the month.
Of the eight states that added construction jobs from February to September, Virginia added the most—4,300—and South Dakota had the largest percentage increase during that period—9.4%. California lost the most construction jobs from February to September (-54,900 jobs), and Vermont had the largest percentage decline (-24.5%).
