Industry’s Job Gains and Average Hourly Earnings Outpace Broader Economy as Association Survey Finds Contractors Expect to Keep Hiring; Officials Urge Boost to Career and Technical Education, Immigration

Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas and Auburn-Opelika, Ala. Have Largest Gains; Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C., Fairbanks, Alaska, and Longview, Texas Lag the Most as Industry Calls for New Workforce Funding

Association Survey Finds Projects Take Longer than Anticipated as Contractors Cope with Staffing Challenges; Officials Urge Increased Investment in Career and Technical Education, Greater Immigration for Qualified Workers

Texas and North Dakota Have Biggest Number and Percent Annual Job Gains, While Louisiana and Vermont Lag; Florida and Nevada Experience Largest One-Month Gains as Tennessee and Wyoming Have Worst Declines

Forty-two states added construction jobs between June 2018 and June 2019, while construction employment increased in 30 states from May to June, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of Labor Department data released today. Association officials said the new construction employment data demonstrates the need for new federal investments in career and technical education programs, along with immigration reform.

Construction employment increased by 21,000 jobs in June and by 224,000, or 3.2 percent, over the past 12 months, while the number of unemployed jobseekers with construction experience fell, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials noted that firms continue to increase pay as they work to attract new hires from an ever-tighter labor market.

Construction employment grew in 249 out of 358 metro areas between May 2018 and May 2019, declined in 57 and was unchanged in 52, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said firms in many parts of the country would likely have added more workers if it were not for an acute shortage of qualified workers.

The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, released the following statement in response to the release of the Department of Labor new proposal on apprenticeship expansion, and the decision to exclude the construction industry from the Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Program:

The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, released the following statement in response to the passage today in the U.S. House of Representatives of the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019, a measure to offer conditional green cards and extend work authorizations to individuals who are in the United States under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Action for Children Arrivals (“Dreamers”) programs:

Construction employment grew in 250 out of 358 metro areas between April 2018 and April 2019, declined in 53 and was unchanged in 55, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said construction employment in many parts of the country likely would have been higher if firms could find more qualified workers to hire.