Construction employment up in Charlotte and state

Gains in Charlotte construction employment accounted for more than 75 percent of all the growth in the state’s construction employment between February 2013 and this February, according to a release from the Associated General Contractors of America.

During that period, the Charlotte metropolitan area, which includes Gastonia and Rock Hill, S.C., gained 3,100 jobs to go from 39,200 construction employees in February 2013 to 42,300 employees in February 2014, the AGC reported. N.C. as a whole gained 4,100 construction jobs year over year.

On the national level, 175 out of the 339 metro areas the AGC covers added construction jobs between February 2013 and February 2014, according to the AGC report. The Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas, metro area added 9,600 jobs, which was the most reported, and Monroe, Mich., increased its construction workforce by 65 percent – from 2,000 to 3,300 – which was the highest percentage change.

Despite an overall increase in construction employment in N.C. and across the country, many metro areas had stagnant construction employment.

“It is encouraging that contractors added workers in so many locations despite severe weather that delayed some project starts,” Ken Simonson, the AGC’s chief economist, said in the report. “At the same time, it’s clear that the upturn in construction is far from universal. Activity is flat or declining in many metro areas, while contractors in the hottest locations are having trouble finding skilled workers.”

In February, the state markets of Asheville, Durham-Chapel Hill, Fayetteville, Greensboro-High Point, Greenville, Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton and Rocky Mount all held steady from their February 2013 construction employment figures.

Winston-Salem was the only N.C. market to lose jobs year over year, dropping to 6,600 construction employees from 6,700, the AGC reported.