Construction job market booming: These states are hiring
National Association of Home Builders President Jerry Howard on the state of the housing market and the labor shortage in construction.
Construction workers are about to get a big boost in job opportunities.
New research from employment marketplace ZipRecruiter forecasts that, for the month of April, 500,000 construction jobs will be added to the economy.
Overall, the construction sector has added 1.99 million jobs since January 2011. And growth is not expected to slow down any time soon. Between 2016 and 2026, the sector is expected to experience faster-than-average job growth of 12 percent, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
On the ZipRecruiter website, job posting have risen 41 percent over the past year.
But the gains are not equal. ZipRecruiter found that the top industries adding construction jobs were oil and gas pipeline construction, residential remodelers, utility system construction and highway, street and bridge construction.
Therefore, there are some states that are adding positions at a much faster clip than others. Here’s a look at where help is most wanted:
West Virginia
In the year that ended in February, West Virginia saw a 46 percent increase in construction jobs – far and above every other state in the country. The boom in this state has been primarily fueled by the oil and gas industry, according to the report.
Nevada
Nevada experienced a 12 percent increase in construction jobs over the same time period.
Alaska
Between February 2018 and February 2019, Alaska’s construction sector employment increased by 11 percent.
Arizona
Arizona also saw an 11 percent increase in employment within its construction industry.
Wyoming
Construction employment rose by 10 percent in Wyoming.
On the other hand, some states are actually losing positions in construction. The biggest losses were seen in Maine, Vermont, Louisiana and South Carolina.
However, as of March 2019, the construction industry had an unemployment rate of 5.2 percent, according to data from the St. Louis Fed. That’s a symptom of weak housing construction, which hurts employment in certain regions, and the types of jobs that are in demand, among other factors.
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Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Homebuilders, told FOX Business that, due to demographics changes, it is mid-level construction positions that are largely in demand. Baby boomers are leaving these jobs, he explained, and there aren’t enough younger workers with the qualifications to fill them.
While automation and artificial intelligence could eventually take a larger share of the jobs in the construction space, Dietz noted that this is one sector where jobs can’t really be outsourced to another country.