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Texas and Alaska Top Lists of Numerical and Percentage Year-over-Year Gains, While New York and D.C. Lag; Texas, Nevada Lead in Number and Percent of Monthly Gains, While New York and Vermont Have Worst Losses

Construction employment increased in 35 states in June from a year earlier, while 29 states added construction jobs between May and June, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released by the Associated General Contractors of America today. Association officials noted that demand for construction and construction workers remains strong in many parts of the country despite slowdowns in certain market segments.

“Construction employment continues to rise in a majority of states despite slowdowns in multifamily and commercial projects,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “But finding qualified workers to execute huge data center, manufacturing, energy, and infrastructure projects is a challenge in many states.”

Between June 2023 and June 2024, 35 states added construction jobs, while 14 states and the District of Columbia shed jobs. Construction employment was unchanged in Rhode Island. Texas added the most construction employees (36,100 or 4.4 percent), followed by Florida (29,900 jobs, 4.8 percent), Michigan (14,400 jobs, 7.6 percent), and Nevada (12,800 jobs, 11.5 percent). Alaska had the largest percentage increase over 12 months (19.5 percent, 3,300 jobs), followed by Nevada, Hawaii (10.5 percent, 4,000 jobs), and Michigan.

New York lost the most construction jobs during the past 12 months (-5,400 jobs, -1.4 percent), followed by Colorado (-4,200 jobs, -2.3 percent), Maryland (-4,200 jobs, -2.6 percent), and Oregon (-2,300 jobs, -2.0 percent). The largest percentage loss was in D.C. (-4.7 percent, -700 jobs), followed by Maine (-3.8 percent, -1,300 jobs), Maryland, Colorado, and Oregon.

For the month, industry employment increased in 29 states, declined in 17 states and D.C., and was unchanged in Alaska, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Texas added the most jobs (5,100 or 0.6 percent), followed by Ohio (3,600 jobs, 1.5 percent), Florida (3,400 jobs, 0.5 percent), and Nevada (3,300 jobs, 2.7 percent). Nevada had the largest percentage gain, followed by Ohio and Tennessee (1.3 percent, 2,000 jobs).

New York lost the most construction jobs from May to June (-4,400 or -1.1 percent), followed by Colorado (-1,100 jobs, -0.6 percent), Georgia (-700 jobs, -0.3 percent), Illinois (-600 jobs, -0.3 percent), and Maine (-600 jobs, -1.8 percent). Vermont lost the highest percentage of jobs (-1.9 percent, -300 jobs), followed by Maine, North Dakota (-1.4 percent, -400 jobs), D.C. (-1.4 percent, -200 jobs), and New York.

Association officials urged Congress to explore ways to increase funding for career and technical education programs – which include construction prep – as they focus on fiscal year 2025 funding levels for the Departments of Education and Labor. They noted that federal officials currently spend significantly more on four-year college programs than they do on preparing workers for careers in fields like construction.

“Instead of continuing to encourage everyone to amass a lot of college debt, Congress has an opportunity to help get many more people into high-paying careers in fields like construction,” Jeffrey D. Shoaf, the association’s chief executive officer, said. “Boosting funding for programs that expose students to multiple career paths – including construction – will ease labor shortages that are undermining economic growth.”

View June 2024 state employment data and 1-month and 12-month rankings.