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Construction employment increased in 75 percent or 268 of 358 metro areas between October 2021 and October 2022, according to an analysis of new government data by the Arlington, Virginia-based Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).
AGC officials note, however, that job vacancies outpaced hiring as construction firms struggle to find enough qualified workers to hire.
“While three out of four metros added construction jobs in the past year, gains would have been even more widespread if contractors could find enough qualified workers,” AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson says. “Job openings at the end of September topped the number of construction employees hired all month, implying that contractors wanted to hire more than twice as many workers as they were able to find.”
There were 412,000 job openings in construction at the end of September, which exceeded the 348,000 employees hired during the month, Simonson says. The industry’s unemployment rate was 4.1 percent, indicating there were few individuals with construction experience available to hire.
The following areas experienced the greatest increase in construction employment in September:
Metro area Jobs added Percent increase
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugarland, Texas | 26,000 | 12 percent |
| Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas | 14,300 | 10 percent |
| Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington | 11,000 | 10 percent |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, California | 8,700 | 8 percent |
| Provo-Orem, Utah | 6,100 | 21 percent |
| Danville, Illinois | 100 | 17 percent |
| Kansas City, Missouri | 5,000 | 21 percent |
| Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas | 2,500 | 15 percent |
Construction employment declined over the year in 47 metro areas and was unchanged in 43 areas. Areas that were among those losing the most construction jobs include:
Metro area Jobs lost Percent decrease
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida | 6,800 | 8 percent |
| Baton Rouge, Louisiana | 5,000 | 11 percent |
| Richmond, Virginia | 2,800 | 7 percent |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas | 2,800 | 5 percent |
| Bergen-Hudson-Passaic, New Jersey | 2,200 | 7 percent |
AGC officials have urged Congress and the Biden administration to work together to address construction labor shortages that threaten to undermine new economic activity and infrastructure upgrades. They say measures to allow more work visas for construction positions would provide short-term relief. They also have pushed for new investments in construction training and education programs to rebuild the domestic pipeline for workers.
“Instead of urging every student to attend college, amass debt and seek loan relief, public officials should show future workers there are multiple paths to success, including in construction,” AGC CEO Stephen E. Sandherr says. “It is time to start investing in the kind of workforce training and education that will allow more Americans to pursue high-paying construction careers.”