Florida has seven of
the nation’s 10 fastest
growing construction
job markets: AGCA
Florida Construction News staff writer
Data recently released by the Associated General
Contractors of America (AGC) indicates that seven of
the 10 fastest-growing construction job markets in the
country are in Florida.
The Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island metro area
had the fastest rate of construction-employment
growth nationwide during the September-to-Septem-
ber period (27 percent). The Miami-Miami Beach-
Kendall metro area had the third-fastest growth rate
(22 percent). Cape Coral-Fort Myers had the fifth-
fastest rate (20 percent).
Rounding out the top 10 were the Orlando-Kissim-
mee-Sanford and Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-
Deerfield Beach metro areas, which, at 17 percent,
each tied for the seventh-fastest rate of job growth.
And the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach
and the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville metro areas
tied for ninth-fastest rate at 15 percent each.
Meanwhile, the state added 3,000 new construc-
tion jobs between September and October, according
to federal Labor Department data. However, this
growth – at 23rd in the nation – reflects a slow-down
from overall annual employment growth from October
2017, which had placed the state sixth nationally --
with an increase of 43,400 employees to a total of
552,000 -- an increase of 8.5 percent for the year.
“Construction activity continues to expand at a
steady clip, with employment growing by more than
10 percent during the past year in five states and by
more than five percent in another 18 states,” said
chief economist Ken Simonson. “As contractors pay
more for labor and most of the materials they use to
build, construction costs will climb, potentially damp-
ening future demand for their services.
Association officials said in a statement that wide-
spread construction employment gains are a sign of
strong demand for construction services in most parts
of the country. But they cautioned that without new in-
vestments in career and technical education, immigra-
tion reform and swift resolution of trade disputes,
labor and materials costs will continue to climb.
“Firms in many parts of the country are hiring as
fast as they can find qualified workers to bring on-
board just to keep pace with demand,” said Stephen
E. Sandherr, the AGCA’s chief executive officer. “But at
some point, the increasing costs of labor and con-
struction materials are going to drive construction
prices to the point where many customers reschedule
or rethink their projects.”
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Florida Construction News — DECEMBER 2018 - JANAURY 2019 – 5