Analysis of government data by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) has found that between October 2019 and October 2020, construction employment fell in 58% of America’s metro areas, stagnated in 12% and increased in 30%.
The Woodlands and Sugar Land metro area in Texas lost the most construction jobs over the last year, a decline of 19,800 employees, or 8% of the workforce.
In New York City, employees fell 17,300 (11%); the Brockton, Bridgewater and Easton metro area in Massachusetts had the largest percentage decline – 43% (2,500 jobs).
The area with the greatest increase was Dallas, Plano and Irving in northeast Texas. It added 7,300 jobs (5%).
A map of metro areas (AGC)
Previous AGC analysis found that almost a million US construction jobs were lost in April 2020, that employment was down in 20 US states before the advent of the coronavirus and that more projects were cancelled than started in 2020.
The organisation recommends that Congress should fund new federal coronavirus relief measures to stem future job losses.
Stephen Sandherr, AGC’s chief executive, said: “Construction employment is likely to continue falling in many parts of the country unless Congress quickly passes new coronavirus relief measures.
“Boosting infrastructure projects, preserving the benefits of the Paycheck Protection Programme and protecting businesses from predatory attorneys will help stabilise the economy and demand for construction.”
Top image: Construction site in California (Scott Blake/Unsplash)
