
Of the 358 metro areas for which the Labor Department provides construction employment data, only 168 (47%) experienced an increase in construction employment from July 2014 to July 2015. Construction employment declined in 138 metro areas (39%) and was level in 52 metros (15%).
Construction employment increased in fewer than half of the nation’s metro areas between July 2014 and July 2015, the weakest expansion since late 2011, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials noted that the new jobs data comes while a series of vital federal infrastructure funding measures, notably the surface transportation program, languish unfinished in Congress.