Construction employment on Long Island decreased for the third straight month in August, after rising every month since August 2022.
Nassau and Suffolk counties lost 5,200 construction jobs from August 2022 to August 2023, a 6 percent year-over-year drop, falling from 84,800 to 79,600, according to a report from the Associated General Contractors of America.
The decline in construction jobs on Long Island last month was the second largest decrease out of 358 metropolitan areas in the country.
Regionally, the number of construction jobs in New York City was up 8 percent, gaining 11,000 jobs from August 2022 to August 2023, rising from 144,400 to 155,400, the second largest jobs increase in the country.
Construction employment in the Orange/Rockland/Westchester area dropped by 1 percent, losing 500 jobs from August 2022 to August 2023, falling from 46,500 to 46,000.
Between August 2022 and Augus 2023, construction employment rose in 223 metro areas, declined in 79 areas and was unchanged in 56 areas, according to the AGCA report.
Association officials said contractors report they would like to hire even more workers but are having trouble finding enough qualified ones to hire.
“Although construction employment is growing in most locations, contractors everywhere report they are having trouble filling positions,” Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist, said in an AGCA statement. “Many more metro areas would have shown gains if there were enough qualified workers to fill the openings.”
Metro areas adding the most construction jobs over the last year include the Dallas area, which gained 15,100 jobs for a 10 percent rise; the Portland, Ore. area, adding 9,200 for an 11 percent gain; and the Phoenix area, which added 7,700 jobs for a 5 percent gain.
The metro areas seeing the largest drops in construction employment from August 2022 to August 2023 include the Houston area, which lost 6,800 jobs for a 3 percent drop; the Miami area, losing 4,400 jobs for an 8 percent decrease; and the St. Louis area, which dropped 2,900 jobs for a 4 percent decline.
