Construction employment increased in 29 states in January compared with February 2020, the last month before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America.
Construction employment increased in 29 states in January compared with February 2020, the last month before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America.
However, construction employment continued to lag in 21 states and D.C. since February 2020.
“Employment has risen in most of the nation over the past year, but contractors are having an increasingly hard time finding all the workers they need as unemployment hits record lows in more states,” stated Ken Simonson, AGC’s chief economist. “The scramble for workers is likely to drive wages and overtime costs even higher at the same time rising materials prices are cutting into already tight margins.”
New York lost the most construction jobs between February 2020 and January 2022, losing 32,000 jobs, a decline of 7.8%. Utah added the most construction jobs since February 2020 with an additional 10,400 positions, a growth of 9.1%.
The full AGC report can be found here.