Forty-four states and the District of Columbia added construction jobs between October 2017 and October 2018 while 36 states and DC added construction jobs between September and October according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of Labor Department data released today Association officials said that firms in most parts of the country are adding staff to keep pace with growing demand for construction but cautioned that rising labor and materials costs could undermine future demand Construction activity continues to expand at a steady clip with employment growing by more than ten percent during the past year in five states and by more than five percent in another 18 states said chief economist Ken Simonson As contractors pay more for labor and most of the materials they use to build construction costs will climb potentially dampening future demand for their services Texas added the most construction jobs during the past year 49 900 jobs 69 percent Other states adding a large number of new construction jobs for the past 12 months include Florida 43 400 jobs 85 percent California 30 000 jobs 36 percent Georgia 21 600 jobs 116 percent Arizona 18 000 jobs 121 percent and New York 15 600 jobs 41 percent Arizona added the highest percentage of new construction jobs during the past year followed by Georgia Nevada 114 percent 9 500 jobs Oregon 105 percent 10 400 jobs New Hampshire 103 percent 2 800 jobs and Florida Construction employment reached a record high in five states Massachusetts New York Oregon Texas and Washington Six states shed construction jobs between October 2017 and 2018 The largest declines and steepest percentage losses occurred in New Jersey -3 800 jobs -25 percent followed by South Carolina -1 700 jobs -17 percent Oklahoma -500 jobs -06 percent Hawaii -300 jobs -08 percent and Mississippi -300 jobs -07 percent Among the 36 states with one-month job gains between September and October Florida 3 000 jobs 05 percent and California 3 000 jobs 04 percent had the largest gains followed by Arizona 2 500 jobs 15 percent Georgia 2 500 jobs 12 percent Washington 2 500 jobs 12 percent and New York 2 500 jobs 06 percent Iowa added the highest percentage of construction jobs for the month 20 percent 1 600 jobs followed by Wyoming 19 percent 400 jobs and Rhode Island 16 percent 300 jobs From September to October construction employment declined in 12 states and was unchanged in Connecticut and Maine Louisiana lost the most construction jobs -1 900 jobs -13 percent followed by Oklahoma -900 jobs -12 percent and Michigan -900 jobs -05 percent Mississippi lost the highest percentage of construction jobs in October -16 percent -700 jobs followed by Montana -14 percent -400 jobs Louisiana and Oklahoma Association officials said widespread construction employment gains are a sign of strong demand for construction services in most parts of the country But they cautioned that without new investments in career and technical education immigration reform and swift resolution of trade disputes labor and materials costs will continue to climb Firms in many parts of the country are hiring as fast as they can find qualified workers to bring onboard just to keep pace with demand said Stephen E Sandherr the associations chief executive officer But at some point the increasing costs of labor and construction materials are going to drive construction prices to the point where many customers reschedule or rethink their projects View the state employment data by rank state and peaks View the state employment map