Construction Hiring Falters in November

Analysts are pointing to economic uncertainty and the threat of the fiscal cliff as primary factors in the sluggish pace of construction employment growth, which declined in 30 states in November.

Only 20 states and the District of Columbia added construction jobs between November 2011 and November 2012, while employment shrank in 30 states, as the prospect of a more severe contraction in 2013 keeps hiring down, according to an analysis of employment data by the Associated General Contractors of America.

"While construction spending has been rising for over a year, contractors have held down employment levels out of fear that failure in Washington to avoid the "fiscal cliff' will trigger a recession and cause many projects to be canceled," said Ken Simonson, the AGC's chief economist. "If the nation can get past this unnecessary, self-induced crisis, there should be a strong upswing in construction hiring in 2013."

Texas again added the most new construction jobs over the past 12 months, followed by California, Arizona and Minnesota. Hawaii jumped to the top ranking for percentage of new construction jobs, followed by Nebraska, Texas, Minnesota and Arizona.

Among states losing construction jobs during the past year, New York lost the most jobs, followed by Illinois and Pennsylvania. Delaware again lost the highest percentage, followed by Nevada and Arkansas.