Less Than Half the States Added Construction Jobs in September

Florida led all states with 3,200 new construction jobs over the last month; North Carolina shed the most with 3,300 lost construction jobs

Oct 20, 2015

Fourteen states shed construction jobs during the past 12 months, while construction employment was unchanged in Oregon. West Virginia lost the highest percent of construction jobs followed by Rhode Island, Ohio and Mississippi. California added the most new construction jobs between September 2014 and September 2015 followed by Florida, Washington and Pennsylvania.

Construction employment expanded in 35 states and the District of Columbia between September 2014 and September 2015 yet only 23 states added jobs between August and September, according to an Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) analysis of Labor Department data. Association officials said the fact as many states lost construction jobs as added them last month was likely due to a combination of labor shortages and uncertainty about a host of federal investment programs.

“Depending on the kind of work they perform, many contractors either can’t find enough workers or they can’t find enough work,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, chief executive officer for the association. “While overall demand for construction continues to grow and sap the pool of available labor, firms that work on federally-funded projects are dealing with a lot of uncertainty.”

Florida (3,200 jobs, 0.8%) added the most construction jobs between August and September. Other states adding a high number of construction jobs included:

Louisiana (3,100 jobs, 2.2%)
New Jersey (2,800 jobs, 1.9%)
Texas (2,700 jobs, 0.4%)

Alaska (3.9%, 700 jobs) added the highest percentage of construction jobs during the past month, followed by:

New Mexico (3.2%, 1,300 jobs)
South Dakota (2.6%, 600 jobs)
Utah (2.5%, 2,000 jobs)
Louisiana

Twenty-three states lost construction jobs during the past month while construction employment was unchanged in four states and the District of Columbia. North Carolina (-3,300 jobs, -1.7%) shed more construction jobs than any other state followed by:

Colorado (-2,200 jobs, -1.4%)
Massachusetts (-2,000 jobs, -1.5%)
New York (-1,800 jobs, -0.5%)
Oregon (-1,800 jobs, -2.2%)

Montana (-4.4%, -1,100 jobs) lost the highest percentage of construction jobs between August and September followed by:

Idaho (-2.5%, -1,000 jobs)
Oregon

California added the most new construction jobs (43,900 jobs, 6.4%) between September 2014 and September 2015. Other states adding a high number of new construction jobs for the past 12 months include:

Florida (26,700 jobs, 6.6%)
Washington (11,400 jobs, 7.1%)
Pennsylvania (11,300 jobs, 4.9%)

Arkansas (16.1%, 7,400 jobs) added the highest percentage of new construction jobs during the past year followed by:

Alaska (11.2%, 1,900 jobs)
Kansas (9.5%, 5,600 jobs)
South Carolina (9.0%, 7,400 jobs)

Fourteen states shed construction jobs during the past 12 months, while construction employment was unchanged in Oregon. West Virginia (-16.9%, -5,800 jobs) lost the highest percent of construction jobs followed by:

Rhode Island (-10.9%, -1,800 jobs)
Ohio (-6.3%, -12,400 jobs)
Mississippi (-5.1%, -2,400 jobs)

The largest job losses occurred in Ohio, West Virginia, Minnesota (-2,700 jobs, -2.5%) and Mississippi.

Association officials said that ongoing construction labor shortages in many markets are making it hard for many firms to fill positions. They noted that many firms indicated a low opinion of the pipeline for recruiting and training new construction workers. “One of our top priorities is finding ways to rebuild the pipeline for new workers in our industry,” said Sandherr.

View the state employment data by rank and state.