Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth are leading the country in the growth of construction sector jobs.
The D-FW area added 18,000 building sector jobs in the year ending with November, according to the latest report from Associated General Contractors of America.
The Dallas side of the metro area accounted for 13,500 of the gain.
Only Houston with a 18,500 gain had a greater annual increase in construction jobs.
Construction employment in both Houston and the Dallas area was up 9% year-over-year.
Annual construction employment declined slightly in both the Austin area (-1,400) and San Antonio (-1,100).
Three fourths of the U.S. metro areas had higher construction job totals in November from a year earlier.
“Population changes over time are a major contributor to demand for numerous types of construction, funding for public construction, and supply of potential construction workers,” Associated General Contractors economist Ken Simonson said in the new report.
Texas is the fastest growing population state in the country, according to the latest U.S. Census estimate.
Texas’ population surged by 470,708 people between July 2021 and July 2022 - a large portion of that increase due to migration.
Texas is leading the country in overall employment increases in 2022. In November. The state added another 38,000 jobs.
And the D-FW’s total employment has risen by more than 250,000 jobs this year.
Along with Houston and D-FW, construction employment increased by the most in metros including Seattle and Phoenix.
And construction jobs fell from a year ago in Orlando,Richmond and Camden, N.J., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest estimates.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area saw a more than 70% increase in construction starts in the first half of 2022. Only New York City had a greater total construction volume, according to Dodge Data & Analytics.
North Texas commercial and public sector building projects have continued to grow in recent months, while starts for new single-family homes in the D-FW area have fallen sharply.
