On Thursday, January 7 at 12 p.m. EST, the Associated General Contractors of America and Sage will release its national and state construction hiring and business forecasts for 2021 during a virtual media event. 

The new coronavirus recovery measure should provide some needed relief for a construction industry that is coping with project cancellations and job losses in most parts of the country. 

Construction employment in October remained depressed compared to pre-pandemic levels in three-fourths of states despite the fact 36 states and D.C. added new construction jobs in October.

Construction firms are experiencing widespread project deferrals and cancellations, along with disruptions to ongoing work and few new project awards, as the economic damage from the pandemic drags down industry employment in metro areas across the nation, according to a new survey and an analysis of new government data that the Associated General Contractors of America released today.

On Wednesday, October 28 at 2 p.m. EDT, the Associated General Contractors of America will release new data showing the ongoing impacts of the coronavirus on the construction sector and its impacts on metro area construction employment. 

Only eight states and the District of Columbia have recouped the severe pandemic-induced losses of construction jobs that occurred last spring.

Construction spending increased by 1.4 percent in August as strong gains in residential construction outweighed decreases in most private nonresidential segments and many public categories.

Thirty-nine states lost construction jobs between August 2019 and August 2020 while 31 states and the District of Columbia added construction jobs between July and August according to an analysis of Labor Department data released by the Associated General Contractors of America.

Construction employment increased by 16,000 jobs in August, but the gains were concentrated in housing, while the infrastructure and nonresidential building construction sector lost 11,000 jobs.

The coronavirus has harmed the construction industry, prompting project delays and cancellations, layoffs and furloughs, yet it remains difficult for a majority of firms to find craft workers to hire, according to the results of a workforce survey conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America and Autodesk.