Only 18 states and the District of Columbia have added construction jobs since just before the start of the pandemic in February 2020 despite a pickup in most states from October to November, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said one reason employment is below pre-pandemic levels in many parts of the country is the lack of available workers to hire.
鈥淐onstruction activity has picked up in recent months but still has not reached the employment levels of early last year in most of the country during what has become a very tight labor market,鈥 said Ken Simonson, the association鈥檚 chief economist. 鈥淚f contractors had found enough qualified workers, more states would have recovered fully by now from the pandemic-induced job losses,鈥 he added, noting that job openings at the end of October exceeded the number of workers hired into the industry that month.
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