Construction firms in the US added jobs in 38 states over the past 12 months, although job gains leveled off between February and March, according to an analysis Friday by the Associated General Contractors of America of Labor Department data. Association officials said the ongoing year-over-year pickup points to the urgency of revitalizing and initiating programs to encourage workers and graduating students to get construction careers.
"The widespread gains in employment from a year ago are encouraging, given the tough winter many states endured right through March," said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. "The never-ending winter of 2014 may account for the dip in the number of states that added construction jobs in the latest month, but it is also possible that single-family homebuilders are not adding workers as some forecasters expected."
Simonson said he expects private nonresidential construction to continue adding workers, especially in states with large oil and gas activity, such as North Dakota, Louisiana, Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma. He cited apartment construction as another growth area but said single-family homebuilding may stall at a relatively low level.
Association officials said that the construction industry is prepared to add many more workers but that training programs and other initiatives to draw workers into construction need to be beefed up. The association recently unveiled a multi-point workforce development plan to address these needs.
"With each passing month, it becomes clearer that contractors in most states are hiring both experienced and new workers," said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association's chief executive officer. "It is essential for federal, state and local officials to clear roadblocks and adopt policies that will attract more workers into the industry."