ARLINGTON, VA. — U.S. construction employment increased in 226 of 358 metro areas between July 2022 and July 2023, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new government employment data.
Association officials said in an Aug. 30 release that demand for many types of construction remained strong in most parts of the country, but firms still have hundreds of thousands of unfilled construction positions.
“Demand for construction projects remains strong nationwide and most metros have continued to add construction jobs in the past year,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “But there were 378,000 unfilled job openings in construction at the end of July, which suggests that even more markets would have posted year-over-year employment increases if there were enough qualified workers to fill the openings.”
Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas added the most construction jobs (18,100 jobs or 12 per cent), followed by New York City (13,400 jobs, nine per cent); Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash. (9,700 jobs, 12 per cent); and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga. (6,600 jobs, four per cent). The largest percentage gains were in Yuba City, Calif. (13 per cent, 400 jobs) and Corvallis, Ore. (13 per cent, 200 jobs); followed by gains of 12 per cent in Dallas-Plano-Irving; Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro; and Clarksville, Tenn.-Ky. (500 jobs).
Construction jobs declined over the year in 80 metro areas and were unchanged in 52 areas. The largest job loss occurred in Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla. (minus 4,100 jobs, down eight per cent), followed by Nassau County-Suffolk County, N.Y. (minus 2,300 jobs, down three per cent) and St. Louis, Mo.-Ill. (minus 2,100 jobs, down three per cent).
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