PROVIDENCE – Construction employment in Rhode Island declined 8% year over year to 18,300 jobs, according to the Associated General Contractors of America Friday.
The rate of decline was the eleventh highest of all states in the country.
South Dakota had the highest rate of increase of construction employment in the nation year over year, rising 10.9% in August.
Only 10 states and the District of Columbia added construction jobs between August 2019 and August 2020, the report said.
“The ongoing pandemic is prompting ever more private owners, developers and public agencies to delay and cancel projects,” said Ken Simonson, the AGCA’s chief economist, in a statement. “The share of contractors that reported postponed or canceled projects nearly doubled while the share who reported winning new or expanded work dropped nearly in half.”
Rhode Island had the second-fastest rate of decline year over year in New England, behind Massachusetts, however all states in the region reported year-over-year declines.
Other New England construction employment declines in August:
- Maine: Declined 1% year over year, ranking No. 16 in the U.S.
- Connecticut: Declined 3.4% year over year, ranking No. 25 in the U.S.
- New Hampshire: Declined 5.7% year over year, ranking No. 35 in the country.
- Massachusetts: Declined 12.4% year over year, ranking second to last in the U.S.
Month to month in August, construction employment in Rhode Island declined 0.5%, ranking No. 40 in the U.S., including Washington, D.C.
New Mexico had the highest rate of increase from July, rising 6.7%.
