Long Island construction jobs decline for ninth straight month

Construction employment on Long Island saw another year-over-year drop in November, the ninth straight month of declines, according to a new report from the Associated General Contractors of America. 

Nassau and Suffolk counties lost 5,600 construction jobs from Nov. 2024 to Nov. 2025, a 7 percent year-over-year decline, falling from 82,100 to 76,500, the AGCA reports. Long Island’s construction employment decline was the fifth largest drop of the 360 metro areas in the report.  

Regionally, the number of construction jobs in New York City was down 6 percent, losing 8,600 jobs from Nov. 2024 to Nov. 2025, falling from 142,600 to 134,000. New York City’s job loss was the largest in the country for that period. 

Association officials noted that the employment data is consistent with the results of a survey they released last week that found contractors less optimistic than a year ago about growth prospects for most project types. 

“Construction hiring has slowed in many parts of the country as owners have put projects on hold,” Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist, said in a written statement. “While a majority of contractors expect to add workers in 2026, there are likely to be fewer markets than a year ago with expanding opportunities.” 

Metro areas adding the most construction jobs over the last year include the Houston area, which added 5,700 jobs for a 2 percent increase; followed by the Washington D.C area, which added 5,600 jobs for an 11 percent gain; and the Kansas City area gaining 5,200 jobs for an 8 percent rise.  

Besides New York City, the metro areas seeing the largest drops in construction employment from Nov. 2024 to Nov. 2025 include the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. area which lost 8,500 jobs for a 7 percent drop; the Las Vegas area, which lost 7,000 jobs for a 9 percent decline; and the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. area dropping 6,900 jobs for a 5 percent decline. 

In its recent 2026 Construction Hiring and Business Outlook Survey, the AGCA found 63 percent of contractors expect to add workers this year, compared to 69 percent that expected to last year. The association is pushing Congress to pass a new highway and transit bill, address workforce shortages and streamline federal reviews and the permitting process to help the construction industry. 

“Federal officials have an opportunity to support construction demand while making needed enhancements to the overall economy,” Jeffrey Shoaf, the association’s CEO, said in the statement. “That is why we will be busy advocating for measures to boost demand and address chronic labor shortages.”