Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas and Pocatello, Idaho Have Largest Gains; New York City and Longview, Texas Lag the Most as Industry Calls for Comprehensive Immigration Reform and Additional Workforce Funding

Cutting Off Vital Infrastructure Funding Will Hurt Efforts to Improve California’s Infrastructure and Air Quality; Construction Association Urges Federal Officials to Give State a Grace Period

Associated General Contractors of America Selected the Kentucky Senator for His Work Overseeing Comprehensive Tax Reform, Eliminating Regulatory Barriers, Approving Pro-Employment Judges and Supporting Key Projects

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:

AGC of America has joined the AGC of Michigan in filing a friend-of-the-court brief in the Michigan Supreme Court in strong support of insurance coverage for construction defects. The brief focuses on the standard form of the General Commercial Liability (CGL) policy sold to AGC members across the United States. The Michigan Court of Appeals recently held that the policy provides no coverage for resulting damage to a project. The immediate question is whether the Michigan Supreme Court will grant an application for review of that ruling. If the court grants that application, the court will then entertain the merits of the case. The association’s brief urges the court to take the case and to overturn the court of appeals.

Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia added construction jobs between May 2018 and May 2019, while construction employment increased in 31 states and D.C. from April to May, 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 underscores the need for new federal investments in career and technical education programs as well as immigration reform.