Economy
AGC: Construction Jobs Rise but Many Openings Remain
Written by Becca Moczygemba
August 31, 2023
Construction jobs may have increased year over year in July, but many positions remain unfilled.
According to a report released by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), construction employment was boosted in 226 of 358 metro areas between July 2022 and July 2023. The association said there is still demand for various types of construction, but hundreds of thousands of vacant positions remain.
“Demand for construction projects remains strong nationwide and most metros have continued to add construction jobs in the past year,” said AGC’s chief economist Ken Simonson. “But there were 378,000 unfilled job openings in construction at the end of July, which suggests that even more markets would have posted year-over-year employment increases if there were enough qualified workers to fill the openings.”
The Dallas-Plano-Irving area added the most jobs with 18,100, followed by New York City with 13,400. The least amount of jobs added were in Corvallis, Ore., at just 200.
Decreases were seen, with the largest number lost in the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., area, which lost 4,100 jobs.
“We want to understand why firms are having trouble finding qualified workers and the consequences of those shortages,” said the association’s CEO Stephen E. Sandherr.
New workforce data will be released on Sept. 6 as part of the AGC’s and Autodesk’s annual Construction Workforce Survey. Sandherr said the information is “designed to help policy makers and the industry identify steps they can take to prepare, recruit and retain more qualified workers.”
Becca Moczygemba
Read more from Becca MoczygembaLatest in Economy
Beige Book finds growing economic, policy uncertainty
All districts reported "hesitancy and a cautious approach to business and household decisions,” according to the Beige Book.
ISM: Manufacturing continues to contract in May
May marks the third consecutive month US manufacturing activity declined, according to supply executives contributing to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM)’s latest report.
Chicago PMI decreases 4.1 points in May
The Chicago Business Barometer reports that decreases in new orders, order backlogs, and softer production pulled the index down by 4.1-points to 40.5, in May.
Architecture firms struggle through April
For the third month in a row, architecture firms reported a reduction in billings through April, according to the latest Architecture Billings Index release.
House committee blocks GOP budget proposal
The budget proposal has big implications for steel and manufacturing.