Washington, DC – Thirty-eight states added construction jobs between March 2018 and March 2019, while construction employment increased in 29 states between February and March, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of Labor Department data released recently.
Association officials said the widespread gains show demand for workers remains strong and urged federal officials to enact immigration reforms to boost the supply of qualified workers.
“Although construction has added jobs in many states at a higher rate than the private sector as a whole in the past year, the record number of job openings at the end of February shows contractors would add even more workers if they could,” stated chief economist Ken Simonson. “There is no sign of a let-up in the demand for construction workers.”
Texas and West Virginia have the biggest number and percent of annual job gains as Louisiana and Vermont lag.
Washington has the largest one-month gains, while Pennsylvania and Vermont experience worst losses.
