Thirty-one states and Washington, D.C., added new construction jobs in November, but construction employment is down in 35 states since February, according to www.agc.org.
“An increase in project cancellations and postponements is forcing nonresidential contractors to lay off workers as they complete projects started before the pandemic and firms exhaust their Paycheck Protection Program loans,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America. “Despite strong demand for single-family homebuilding and remodeling, overall industry employment is likely to shrink in more states in the absence of federal assistance.”
Texas added the most construction jobs from October to November—7,500—and Delaware had the largest percentage increase of construction jobs for the month—3.8%. California lost the largest number of construction jobs (-5,800) and Nevada lost the highest percentage of construction jobs (-3.9%) for the month.
Only 15 states and Washington, D.C., added construction jobs from February to November. Virginia added the most—11,800—and had the largest percentage increase during that period—5.8%. New York lost the most construction jobs from February to November (-39,700 jobs), and Vermont had the largest percentage decline (-24.5%).
“While the pandemic is causing more and more construction to be canceled or postponed, it is imperative that Congress renew the loan program that will keep contractors from shutting their doors and workers from losing their jobs,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, AGC’s CEO. “In addition, it is vital that Congress stop the Treasury from playing ‘gotcha’ with firms that rightly expected their loans to be treated as nontaxable.”
