Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, Texas and Baton Rouge, La. Lead in Year-over-Year Job Gains, While Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga. and Anchorage, Alaska Have Worst Number and Percentage of Losses
Construction employment increased in half—180, or 50%, out of 360—of metro areas between September 2025 and September 2026, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new government employment data. Association officials noted that a few types of projects—particularly data centers, power projects and some types of manufacturing plants—are driving demand for construction
“More often than not, there is a correlation between where data centers or large power and manufacturing facilities are getting built and which metro areas are adding new construction jobs,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “That is because demand for many other types of projects has been stalled by rising costs and/or political uncertainty.”
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, Texas added the most construction jobs over the year (13,800 jobs or 5%), followed by Baton Rouge, La. (12,300 jobs, 27%); St. Louis, Mo.-Ill. (10,700 jobs, 13%) and Columbus, Ohio (10,700 jobs, 17%). Baton Rouge had the largest percentage gain, followed by Columbus; Lafayette, La. (15%, 1,600 jobs), Shreveport-Bossier City, La. (14%, 1,200 jobs) and Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa-Ill. (14%, 1,600 jobs).
Construction employment declined in 118 metro areas and was unchanged in 62 areas from September 2025 to September 2026. The largest job loss was in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga. metro division (-5,100 jobs, -5%), followed by the Jersey City-White Plains, N.Y.-N.J. metro division (-4,500 jobs, -6%); the Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley, Calif. metro division (-4,400 jobs, -6%); Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-3,900 jobs, -4%) and the Lakewood-New Brunswick, N.J. division (-3,600 jobs, -6%). The steepest percentage loss occurred in Anchorage, Alaska. (-10%, -1,400 jobs), followed by Niles, Mich. (-9%, -200 jobs); Hanford-Corcoran, Calif. (-8%, -100 jobs); Fairbanks-College, Alaska (-7%, -200 jobs) and Gainesville, Ga. (-7%, -400 jobs).
Association officials noted that rising prices for a range of construction materials and higher interest rates are prompting developers to delay or cancel many types of projects, other than data centers. They urged Washington officials to reconsider high tariff rates that are contributing to higher construction costs. They added that Congress could help drive demand for new construction by passing the overdue highway and transit bill.
“The only kind of projects that appear immune to uncertainties about future federal infrastructure investments and rising prices are data centers,” said Jeffrey D. Shoaf, the association’s chief executive officer. “Federal officials can, and should, take steps to address those uncertainties and rising prices to help boost demand for construction in many more parts of the country.”
View the metro employment data by metro, rank and top 10 changes.