More than 400,000 construction job postings went unfilled in September, according to the Associated General Contractors, even as 75 percent of metro areas added jobs in the past year.
Construction employment increased in 268 of 358 metro areas between October 2021 and October 2022, according to AGC.
“While three out of four metros added construction jobs in the past year, gains would have been even more widespread if contractors could find enough qualified workers,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist, in a statement. “Job openings at the end of September topped the number of construction employees hired all month, implying that contractors wanted to hire more than twice as many workers as they were able to find.”
There were 412,000 job openings in construction at the end of September, which exceeded the 348,000 employees hired during the month, Simonson said. He added that the industry’s unemployment rate was only 4.1 percent, indicating there were few individuals with construction experience available to hire.
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas, added the most construction jobs (26,000 jobs or 12 percent), followed by Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas, (14,300 jobs, 10 percent); Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington, (11,000 jobs, 10 percent); and Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, California, (8,700 jobs, 8 percent). Provo-Orem, Utah, had the largest percentage gain (21 percent, 6,100 jobs), followed by Danville, Illinois, (17 percent, 100 jobs); Kansas City, Missouri, (16 percent, 5,000 jobs); and Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas, (15 percent, 2,500 jobs).
Construction employment declined over the year in 47 metro areas and was unchanged in 43 areas. The largest job loss occurred in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida, (-6,800 jobs, -8 percent), followed by Baton Rouge, Louisiana, (-5,000 jobs, -11 percent); Richmond, Virginia, (-2,800 jobs, -7 percent); and San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas, (-2,800 jobs, -5 percent). The largest percentage decline was in Baton Rouge, followed by Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford; Bergen-Hudson-Passaic, New Jersey, (-7 percent, -2,200 jobs); and Richmond, Virginia.
Source: AGC
