Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia added construction jobs between February 2017 and February 2018, while 38 states added construction jobs between January and February, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America (ACG) of Labor Department data.
"The construction industry continues to add employees in most of the nation, despite a shortage of workers with construction experience," said ACG Chief Economist Ken Simonson.
California added the most construction jobs (74,000 jobs) during the past year. Other states adding a high number of new construction jobs in the past year include Texas (33,900 jobs) and Florida (31,700 jobs). West Virginia added the highest percentage of new construction jobs during the past year (14.3 percent), followed by Nevada (10.9 percent), California (9.8 percent), Idaho (9.3 percent), Arizona (9.2 percent) and New Mexico (9 percent)
Fourteen states shed construction jobs between February 2017 and February 2018, while construction employment was unchanged in Vermont. North Dakota lost the highest percentage of construction jobs by far (-16.3 percent), followed by Iowa (-8.5 percent).
"The states with the largest job gains were all recovering from natural disasters, while losses were concentrated in the Plains states," Simonson commented.
Thirty-eight states added construction jobs between January and February. New York added the most (7,700 jobs), followed by Florida (7,100 jobs) and California (6,800 jobs). Connecticut added the highest percentage of construction jobs for the month (2.6 percent).
Association officials said the widespread job gains show construction offers good career opportunities and public agencies at all levels of government should do more to improve the career and technical education pipeline. They praised the funding increases recently passed by Congress for programs to assist students and underemployed adults in gaining the skills needed for jobs in construction.
For more information, visit www. agc.org or call (703) 548-3119.