Construction firms added jobs in 39 states over the past 12 months, while employment nearly stabilized in the remainder, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials cautioned that the industry’s recovery is still relatively fragile, noting that a number of states experiencing large annual gains lost jobs during the past month.
“The widespread job gains seen in most states for the past few months continued in November, while no state recorded a year-over-year loss of more than 4%,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “But progress remains fragile, with some states having results in the latest month that diverge sharply from their year-over-year outcomes.” He added that every state remains below its previous construction employment peak.