
Construction Employment Declines in 31 States
Between August and September
October 26, 2010
Construction employment declined in 31 states between August and
September, while fewer people are working in construction compared
to last year in 40 states, the Associated General Contractors of
America (AGC) reported in an analysis of state employment data released
today by the Labor Department. According to the AGC, construction
employment is likely to continue to worsen amid uncertainty about
federal spending and tax rates for next year.
"Construction firms are caught between a difficult present and
an uncertain future," said Ken Simonson, AGC's chief economist.
"Looking ahead, nobody knows what will happen to the only thing
keeping the current market from getting worse, federal spending,
as long-term water, energy and transportation spending programs
remain in limbo."
Simonson noted that Rhode Island (-2.9 percent, -500 jobs) lost
the highest percent of construction jobs for the month while California
lost the most jobs (-2.5 percent, -13,300 jobs). Among other states
losing construction jobs between August and September were Texas
(-1.2 percent, -7,000 jobs), New York (-1.8 percent, 5,800 jobs),
Ohio (-2.5 percent, -4,400 jobs) and Pennsylvania (-1.1 percent,
-2,500 jobs).
Hawaii (4.9 percent, 1,400 jobs) and Minnesota (3.8 percent, 3,100
jobs) experienced the largest one-month percentage increase in construction
employment between August and September. Besides those two states,
another 13 and the District of Columbia added jobs, while construction
employment was unchanged in four states. Other states with increases
in construction employment included Florida (0.5 percent, 1,700
jobs), Georgia (1.0 percent, 1,500 jobs), Washington (0.8 percent,
1,100 jobs) and Illinois (0.4 percent, 700 jobs).
Simonson noted that nine states and D.C. added construction jobs
for the year while employment in Alaska was unchanged. The largest
year-over-year increase was in Oklahoma, where construction employment
rose 9.8 percent (6,500 jobs), followed by Kansas (8.9 percent,
5,000 jobs), New Hampshire (8.0 percent, 1,800 jobs), the District
of Columbia (4.5 percent, 500 jobs) and Arkansas (3.5 percent, 1,800
jobs).
Among the 40 states that lost construction jobs over the past 12
months, Nevada experienced the largest percentage decline (-19.3
percent, -14,200) in jobs while California lost the most jobs (-50,700,
-8.8 percent). Other states experiencing large declines for the
year include Vermont (-14.1 percent, -1,900 jobs), Idaho (-12.3
percent, -4,000), Colorado (-11.5 percent, -14,200 jobs) and Kentucky
(-9.8 percent, -7,000 jobs).
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