Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia showed construction job gains between August 2016–2017, while 30 states added jobs between July and August 2017, according to The Associated General Contractors of America.
California added the most jobs year-over-year with 47,400. It was followed by Florida, 35,000 jobs; Louisiana, 15,300 jobs; Texas, 15,200 jobs; and Nevada, 11,600 jobs.
Relative to population size, the largest construction job increases were seen in Rhode Island, 3,200 jobs; New Hampshire; 3,100 jobs; and Oregon, 10,600 jobs.
Iowa lost the highest number of construction jobs with 5,900. Following were Illinois, down 3,000 jobs; and Missouri, down 2,100 jobs.
"Firms in most states are expanding their headcount to keep pace with growing demand for many types of construction projects," said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the association, in a statement. "While it is too early to tell what impacts Hurricanes Harvey and Irma will have on the sector's workforce, there are not a lot of unemployed, experienced workers available to travel to Texas or Florida to help communities rebuild."
