In 2025, construction employment in the US went on to increase in 31 states across the United States from a year before in 2024, and 29 states added construction jobs between February and March 2025, as per a new analysis coming from the federal employment data that was released by the Associated General Contractors of America.
The association officials have gone on to urge the policymakers to expand the worker authorization programmes in order to make sure that the nation has enough skilled construction employment in the US.
As per Ken Simonson, who is the chief economist of the association, the construction job gains have consistently continued in a majority of states. However, the increase is less widespread and robust as compared to what it was in 2024.
As workers go ahead and retire, leave the sector, or even the country, it becomes imperative to recruit people from abroad as well as domestically.
It is well to be noted that between March 2024 and March 2025, 31 states as well as DC went on to add construction jobs while 19 states shed jobs. Apparently, it was Texas, which added the most construction employees at 28,700 jobs, followed by Ohio, Florida, Virginia, and South Carolina with 16,600, 11,400, 8,700, and 7,800 jobs, respectively.
It is worth noting that New Mexico happened to have the largest percentage gain in the last 12 months with 12%, which was followed by 10.5% in Idaho And Kentucky at 8%.
Apparently, it was California that lost the most construction employment in the US between March 2024 and March 2025, with 23,400 jobs lost. It was followed by Washington, New York, Massachusetts, and Arizona with 11,900, 9700, 7100, and 6500 jobs lost, respectively. The largest percentage loss in this spectrum was in Washington and was followed by Iowa, Massachusetts, MT, and Arizona.
The construction employment in the US for the month of March increased in 30 states and declined in 17 along with DC. It remained unchanged in the states of New Mexico, Kansas, and Idaho. It was Texas that added the most construction jobs with 8500, followed closely by Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Alabama at 7200, 3500, 2400, and 2100, respectively. The largest percentage gain was seen in Kentucky and was followed by Montana, Virginia, and Alabama.
It is worth noting that California went on to lose the most construction jobs between February and March, with 3700 jobs. It was followed by Massachusetts, Mississippi, Florida, and New Jersey, where 2200, 1800, 1400, and 1200 jobs were lost, respectively.
Apparently, Mississippi lost the highest percentage of jobs, which was followed by Maine, North Dakota, Massachusetts, and Delaware.
The association officials have gone on to urge the Trump administration to broaden the work authorization programmes in order to make sure that construction employers can find the right workers that they need as far as building manufacturing, energy, and infrastructure projects are concerned.
As per the chief executive officer of the Association, Jeffrey Shoaf, the administration cannot meet its objectives of getting back the manufacturing jobs unless there are an appropriate number of construction workers having the right skills so as to build new plants. The only way this can actually take place is with worker authorisation programmes that enable construction workers to get hired on a timely basis.