Metro area ranks 91st in U.S. for construction job growth

THE PROVIDENCE-FALL RIVER-WARWICK metro area added 900 construction jobs for December, a 5 percent increase that earned the region a spot at No. 91 among 339 U.S. metro areas in terms of highest percentage of jobs gained between December 2012 and December 2013. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/SIMON DAWSON
THE PROVIDENCE-FALL RIVER-WARWICK metro area added 900 construction jobs for December, a 5 percent increase that earned the region a spot at No. 91 among 339 U.S. metro areas in terms of highest percentage of jobs gained between December 2012 and December 2013. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/SIMON DAWSON

ARLINGTON, Va. – Construction employment in the Providence-Fall River-Warwick metro area rose 5 percent in December compared with the same period last year, adding 900 jobs for a total of 19,100 jobs, the Associated General Contractors of America reported Wednesday.

The metro area ranked 91st among 339 U.S. metro areas for highest percentage of jobs gained between December 2012 and December 2013.

The New Bedford metro area, which added 300 jobs, or 13 percent, since December of last year, ranked 17th. Construction jobs in the New Bedford metro area totaled 2,600 in December, the AGC reported.

On a year-over-year basis, 192 of the 339 metro areas experienced growth in construction jobs in November, while 84 metro areas lost jobs and 63 metro areas were stagnant. Steubenville-Weirton, Ohio-W.V., led the country with a 31 percent increase, adding 500 jobs, followed by Lake Charles, La., with an increase of 28 percent, or 2,700 jobs, and Fargo, N.D.-Minn., with an increase of 25 percent, or 1,800 jobs.

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By the numbers, Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif., saw the largest gains, with 11,200 new construction jobs, followed by Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga., with 8,400 new construction jobs, and San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif., and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla., each with 5,700 new jobs.

“Growing demand for apartment and single-family construction was behind a lot of the growth in most metro areas last year,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the AGC. “Employment in December 2013 was held down in many areas by unusually snowy or cold weather. With the weather and the economy both likely to improve soon, even more metros should post employment gains in the coming months.”

Private residential construction spending rose 18 percent between December 2012 and December 2013, Simonson said, while public sector spending fell 1 percent.

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