80% of U.S. States Added Construction Jobs in 2022

The overall American construction sector may have slowed as last year ended and 2023 began but overall, it was a good year for most states for jobs in the sector.

The 2022 calendar year turns out to have been a good year for most states when it came to construction jobs, despite the slowdown as the year wound down.

New data just released from the Associated General Contractors of America, analyzing federal employment statistics, shows that 40 of the 50 U.S. states added jobs in the construction trade last year. And the association said the figures would have been even higher if employers could find more workers to fill additional jobs.

As expected, the states with the largest populations had the biggest gains in total jobs. California was number one with a 4.6% increase, followed by Florida, Texas and New York. Two smaller states – Tennessee and Utah – were next, reflecting the demographic trends last year that saw many Americans leave big cities for less populated areas.

Rhode Island had the biggest percentage increase at 17.3%, followed by Nevada, 13.4%, and Nebraska, 10.9%. The biggest decline was in New Jersey, which saw a 5.5% drop in overall construction job numbers.

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