Construction firms added jobs in 38 states over the past 12 months, although job gains leveled off between February and March, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said the ongoing year-over-year gains point to the urgency of revitalizing and initiating programs to encourage workers and graduating students to get construction careers.

“The widespread gains in employment from a year ago are encouraging, given the tough winter many states experienced right through March,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “The never-ending winter of 2014 may account for the dip in the number of states that added construction jobs in the latest month, but it is also possible that single-family homebuilders are not adding workers as some forecasters expected.”