AGC: Volatile construction employment numbers reflect shaky industry recovery

Dive Brief:

30 states, plus Washington, DC, added construction jobs between March and April, the Associated General Contractors of America reported Wednesday. 18 states lost jobs, and two — Arizona and Utah — remained unchanged.
That's a marked improvement from employment gains the month before, when only 19 states added jobs.
Texas lost the highest number of construction jobs, followed by New York, Florida, and West Virginia.

Dive Insight:

AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson said in a release: “The latest data show that construction is growing across most of the country but the gains remain uneven by month and state."

Simonson was cautious to express optimism with the new numbers, as only five states have seen employment outperform pre-recession highs. Those include Iowa, Louisiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota, according to the AGC.

The association pointed to two factors weighing down significant improvement: the ongoing shortage of skilled workers and the fear that funding for major infrastructure projects could dry up in in a few months.