Construction Employment Increases in 227 Metro Areas

ARLINGTON, Va. — Construction employment rose in 227, or 63 percent, of 358 metro areas between February 2023 and February 2024, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new government employment data. Association officials noted that the widespread increase in employment was consistent with recently released numbers showing year-over-year spending gains in every major type of construction project.

“Construction employment has posted steady increases nationally and most metro areas but the industry will need even more workers to meet the demand for nearly every project type,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Construction spending increased more than 10 percent from February 2023 to February 2024, suggesting the industry will want to hire more workers in many markets.”

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. added the most construction jobs (7,300 jobs or 4 percent) between February 2023 and February 2024, followed by Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (6,300 jobs, 8 percent); Baton Rouge, La. (4,400 jobs, 9 percent); Austin-Round Rock, Texas (4,300 jobs, 5 percent); and Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif. (4,300 jobs, 4 percent). The largest percentage gain—23 percent—occurred in Fairbanks, Alaska, which added 500 jobs. The pickup in Fairbanks was followed by 20 percent increases in Lawton, Okla. (300 jobs); Danville, Ill. (100 jobs); and Saginaw, Mich. (600 jobs).

Construction employment declined over the year in 80 metro areas and was unchanged in 51 areas. The largest job loss occurred in New York City (-9,800 jobs, -7 percent), followed by Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis. (-7,000 jobs, -9 percent); Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash. (-4,200 jobs, -4 percent); Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo. (-3,100 jobs, -3 percent); and Columbus, Ohio (-3,000 jobs, -6 percent). The largest percentage decrease occurred in Decatur, Ill. (-24 percent, -900 jobs), followed by Augusta-Richmond County, Ga.-S.C. (-16 percent, -2,700 jobs); Lake Charles, La. (-10 percent, -1,200 jobs); and Bellingham, Wash. (-10 percent, -900 jobs).

Association officials called on Congress to boost funding for construction training and education programs when it funds the Perkins Act and reauthorizes the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act this year. They also urged Congress and the Biden administration to enact immigration reforms to allow more people to lawfully enter the country to work in construction.

“The construction industry isn’t just building amazing projects, it is also building high-paying career opportunities in communities across the country,” said Jeffrey D. Shoaf, the association’s chief executive officer. “Investing in construction training and education and enacting common-sense immigration reforms will put many more people into those high-paying careers.”

The ABC weighed in on construction employment as well. Nonresidential construction employment increased by 24,600 positions on net, with growth in all three subcategories. Nonresidential specialty trade added the most jobs, increasing by 16,300 positions. Heavy and civil engineering and nonresidential building added 6,000 and 2,300 jobs, respectively.

The construction unemployment rate fell to 5.4% in March. Unemployment across all industries declined from 3.9% in February to 3.8% last month.

“Today’s release was a blockbuster jobs report and indicates that recession is not arriving anytime soon,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The 39,000 jobs added by the nation’s construction segment was roughly twice the monthly growth observed over the past year. If one focuses purely on nonresidential construction, monthly job growth was nearly 80% faster than the one-year average.

“Structural transformations in the economy, including replenished domestic supply chains, expanded data center demand and augmented infrastructure, are making it difficult for many project owners to wait for lower construction delivery costs,” said Basu. “Despite the effects of worker shortages, still-elevated materials prices, newly emerging supply chain issues and the high cost of project financing, both privately and publicly financed segments produced substantial employment growth in March. This comports with ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, which shows that a large share of contractors intend to grow their staffing levels over the next six months.

“As always, the jobs report was not completely positive,” said Basu. “Those in search of lower inflation and interest rates will not be comforted by this release. While economywide year-over-year wage growth softened to 4.1% in March, the monthly wage growth figure suggested a pace of compensation growth that will render it difficult for the Federal Reserve to substantially reduce interest rates in 2024. The notion that interest rates will remain higher for longer remains firmly in place, which means that project financing costs will likely be an ongoing issue for construction demand, especially in privately financed segments, for the foreseeable future.”