Construction Employment Increases In 57 Percent Of Metro Areas In January But Industry Faces Multiple Challenges To Maintaining Growth

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, Texas, Bloomington, Ill. and Ind. Top Lists of 12-Month Job Gains; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. and Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, La. Have Worst Declines

More than half of metro areas added construction jobs between January 2025 and January 2026, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new government employment data. Association officials called for the federal government to assist further job growth by providing adequate funding for training that will enable workers to acquire in-demand skills and by allowing qualified workers into the U.S. when needed workers are not available.

“It is good to see job gains in a majority of metro areas, especially after widespread decreases in 2025,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “However, continued hesitancy by many owners to commit to projects, cost increases from tariffs and the Middle East war, and labor force imbalances make future job gains unpredictable.”

Between January 2025 and January 2026, 205 out of 360 metro areas, or 57 percent, added construction employees. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, Texas added the most construction jobs (16,000 jobs or 7 percent), followed by St. Louis, Mo.-Ill. (9,000 jobs, 13 percent); Kansas City, Mo.-Kans. (7,500 jobs, 13 percent); the Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas metropolitan division. (6,600 jobs, 4 percent); and Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas (5,900 jobs, 7 percent). The largest percentage gain—20 percent—occurred in Bloomington, Ill. (500 jobs) and Bloomington, Ind. (600 jobs), followed by Huntington-Ashland, W. Va.-Ky-Ohio (19 percent, 1,500 jobs); Terre Haute, Ind. (18 percent, 700 jobs); and Eau Claire, Wis. (17 percent, 600 jobs).

Construction employment declined over the year in 110 metro areas and was unchanged in 45 areas. The largest decrease occurred in Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-5,300 jobs, -5 percent), followed by declines of 4,100 jobs in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash. (-5 percent) and New York City -3 percent). The largest percentage loss occurred in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, La. (-14 percent, -900 jobs), followed by Lawton, Okla. (-12 percent, -200 jobs) and Albuquerque, N.M. (-9 percent, -2,400 jobs).

Association officials many metro areas are experiencing strong demand for data centers and power projects but that there are not enough workers with the right skills to execute all the projects. They urged federal officials and lawmakers to increase funding for career and technical education and workforce training and to enable contractors to fill critical skill shortages with workers from other countries.

“To keep construction employment growing in more metros, it is vital that contractors have access to workers with the skills to execute needed projects,” said Jeffrey D. Shoaf, the chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America. “The federal government should increase funding for state, local, and industry efforts to provide workers with the right skills. In addition, contractors should be allowed to fill open positions with qualified workers from other countries when they can show there is a lack of available, qualified workers.”

View the metro employment data by state, rank and top 10 changes.