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News April 1, 2021

Construction jobs are down in 44 states since February 2020

Thirty-five states lost construction jobs in February, and construction employment is down in 44 states since February 2020, according to www.agc.org.

“Today’s figures show most states are still far from recovering the construction jobs lost a year ago,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America. “The overall economy is recovering, but huge price spikes and ever-lengthening delivery times threaten to set construction back further.”

Eleven states added construction jobs from January to February. Utah added the most construction jobs from January to February—3,000—and had the largest percentage increase of construction jobs for the month—2.5%. New York lost the largest number of construction jobs (-15,600) and Iowa lost the highest percentage of construction jobs (-6.9%) for the month.

Only six states added construction jobs from February 2020 to February. Utah added the most jobs—6,700—and Idaho had the largest percentage increase during that period—8.2%. Texas lost the most construction jobs from February 2020 to February (-56,400 jobs), and Louisiana had the largest percentage decline (-14.9%).

AGC officials urged the Biden administration to roll back tariffs on key construction materials—including lumber and steel—contributing to price spikes, as well as to find ways to ease shipping delays.

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