Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas and Lawton, Okla. Experience Highest Number and Percentage of Year-over-Year Job Gains, While New York City and Duluth, Minn.-Wis. Have Worst Job Losses
Construction employment rose in 215, or 60 percent, of 358 metro areas between June 2023 and June 2024, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new government employment data. Association officials noted that while demand for certain types of construction is soft, overall construction activity remains robust and firms are still having a hard time finding workers to hire.
“High interest rates and rising vacancies have depressed construction of developer-financed projects such as apartments, offices, and warehouses in some markets,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Nevertheless, strong demand for data centers, manufacturing and power projects, and infrastructure is keeping employment on the upswing in a majority of metros.”
Construction employment declined over the year in 97 metro areas and was unchanged in 46 areas. The largest job loss occurred in New York City (-7,100 jobs, -5 percent), followed by Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis. (-4,400 jobs, -5 percent); Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo. (-4,300 jobs, -4 percent); Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash. (-3,000 jobs, -4 percent); and Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Md. (-2,700 jobs, -3 percent). The largest percentage decrease occurred in Duluth, Minn.-Wis. (-11 percent, -1,200 jobs), followed by Augusta-Richmond County, Ga.-S.C. (-10 percent, -1,600 jobs) and Ithaca, N.Y. (-8 percent, -100 jobs).
Association officials said many construction firms continue to report challenges in finding enough workers to hire. As a result, firms are frequently opting to not bid on projects because they do not have enough people to do the work. The officials urged federal leaders to boost investments in programs that expose workers to construction skills, and to allow more people to lawfully enter the country to work in the industry.
“The harder it is for firms to find workers, the harder it will be to get vital infrastructure and economic development projects completed,” said Jeffrey D. Shoaf, the association’s chief executive officer. “Investing in construction training and education and finding ways to allow more people to work in construction from overseas will help keep our economy growing.”
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