Texas bucks construction slump, adds 26,000 jobs in past year

Houston Business Journal - By Candace Carlisle, Dallas Business Journal

Even in a bad economy, Texas picked up construction jobs in the past year.

Although construction employment has declined in 27 states between June 2010 and 2011 — Texas has bucked the trend and added 26,000 construction jobs, an increase of 4.6 percent.

In the past month, construction jobs dropped in 23 states between May and June, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors.

"There is no getting around the fact this industry is stuck in a multi-year slump," said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist, in a written release. "The private sector isn't growing fast enough to boost demand for new structures while public construction budget cuts appear to be accelerating."

Other states that have adding to the construction workforce include, Michigan, Illinois, California and Ohio.

The states experiencing the worst construction job losses include Georgia with a year-over-year loss of 10,600 jobs and New Mexico with a loss during that same period of 4,400 jobs.