construction employment sees uptick in vast majority of states

After a decline of nearly 1 million construction jobs in the month after the COVID-19 outbreak, the construction industry added new jobs in 45 states, as well as the District of Columbia, according to an analysis just released by the Associated General Contractors of America.

That analysis shows that some of the states hit the most hard by the coronavirus were also the states posting the most significant construction employment increases, including Pennsylvania, which added more than 77,000 new jobs, and Michigan with 50,500 additional jobs.

Arizona gained 3,000 new construction jobs between April and May of this year, going from 169,400 to 172,400.

Total construction employment in Colorado during that same time period went from 166,000 to just under 172,000; while New Mexico’s construction workforce increased from 49,300 in April to around 50,600 in May.

The analysis additionally shows that while states in the East and Midwest on average posted construction job losses of 5 to 10 percent between May of last year and May of this year, Western states in general saw slight gains of 1 to 5 percent.

Despite the more promising May construction job numbers, Stephen Sandherr, chief executive officer of the AGC, said in a statement that the economic shot in the arm coming from lifting the economic lockdown, “will not be enough to sustain long-term growth for the industry.”
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Sandherr added: “Boosting infrastructure spending, protecting firms that are operating safely and encouraging people to return to work will help convert short-term gains into longer-term growth.”

​By Garry Boulard

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