Construction Employment Drops in 26 States from June to July

Construction employment declined in 26 states from June to July as the industry faced widespread project cancellations, the Associated General Contractors of America reports.

“Renewed outbreaks of coronavirus in numerous states likely caused many project owners and investors to pull back on planned construction,” stated Ken Simonson, AGC’s chief economist. “Meanwhile, budget problems in state and local governments, most of which started a new fiscal year in July, led to cancellation or postponement of many infrastructure and public facilities projects.”

California reported the most construction jobs lost from June to July, shedding 14,800 jobs, a decline of 1.7%. New Mexico had the largest percentage decline, with construction jobs decreasing 5.9%, or 2,900 jobs.

AGC warned that continued flare-ups of COVID-19 across the U.S. mean there will likely be more project cancellations.

The full AGC report can be found here.