Steel Markets

AGC: Construction Jobs Lag Pre-Pandemic Levels in Many Areas

Written by David Schollaert

July 28, 2021

Construction employment declined or stagnated in 101 metro areas between February 2020, the last month before the pandemic, and last month, reported the Associated General Contractors of America in its latest analysis of government data.

Labor shortages and supply chain challenges have kept many firms from adding workers in various parts of the country, said AGC. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land and Odessa, Texas, saw the worst 16-month construction job losses. The Chicago metro area and Fargo, N.D., topped the list of metros that have reported job gains since last February.

“Typically, construction employment increases between February and June in all but 30 metro areas,” said Ken Simonson, AGC’s chief economist. “The fact that more than three times as many metros as usual failed to add construction jobs, despite a hot housing market, is an indication of the continuing impact of the pandemic on both demand for nonresidential projects and the supply of workers.”

Eighty metro areas had lower construction employment in June 2021 than February 2020, while industry employment was unchanged in 21 areas. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas, saw the most total job losses at 33,400. Major losses also occurred in New York City; Midland, Texas; Odessa, Texas; and Baton Rouge, La. At a 38% loss, Odessa had the largest percentage decline, followed by Lake Charles, La.; Laredo, Midland, and Longview, Texas.

Of the nearly three-quarters or 257 metro areas that added construction jobs above the February 2020 level, Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, Ill., added the most construction jobs over the 16-month period at 14,300 jobs, followed by Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis.; Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind.; Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich.; and Pittsburgh, Pa. Fargo, N.D.-Minn. had the highest percentage increase at 50%, followed by Sierra Vista-Douglas, Ariz.; Bay City, Mich.; St. Cloud, Minn.; and Kankakee, Ill.

Association officials again urged Congress and the Biden administration to make new investments in workforce development and to take steps to address supply chain issues, specifically by removing tariffs on key construction materials like steel and aluminum.

“Federal officials may talk about the value of craft careers like construction, but they are failing to put their money where their mouth is,” said Stephen Sandherr, AGC’s CEO. “Until we expose more people to construction careers, and get a handle on soaring materials prices, the construction industry is likely to have a hard time recovering from the pandemic.”

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. Based in CRU’s Pittsburgh office, David can be reached at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.

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