Construction spending rose 4.1 percent from November 2018 to November 2019, while employment grew in 226, or 63 percent, out of 358 metro areas, according to the Associated General Contractors of America.
“Both the actual spending totals for November and our members’ expectations for 2020 point to a continuing uptick in construction employment,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “It’s likely that even more metros would have added workers recently if unemployment weren’t at record lows in many areas.”
Construction spending totaled $1.324 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in November, up 0.6 percent from October and up 4.1 percent from November 2018. The Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas, metro area added the most construction jobs during the past year (15,400 jobs, 10 percent), followed by Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nevada (11,000 jobs, 17 percent).
From November 2018 to November 2019, construction employment fell in 77 metros and was flat in 55. The largest declines occurred in New York City (-6,900 jobs, -4 percent) and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California (-4,300 jobs, -4 percent).
Association officials added that labor shortages are forcing contractors to boost pay, invest more in training, and adopt new labor-saving technologies.
Source: AGC
