Construction employment increased in 231 or 65 percent of 358 metro areas between January 2023 and January 2024, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new government employment data. Association officials noted that the industry ended the month with more than 400,000 job openings nationwide, suggesting that many more metros would have experienced employment increases if enough qualified workers were available.
“Although construction employment has been rising nationally and in nearly two-thirds of metro areas, contractors are eager to hire far more workers,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “There were 407,000 unfilled positions in construction at the end of January, which was a near-record level for January,” he said, citing the government’s latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.
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