Construction employment increased in 180, or exactly 50 percent, of 360 metro areas between May 2024 and May 2025, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new government employment data. Association officials said the construction employment growth has stalled in many parts of the country amid growing uncertainty about tax, tariff and labor policy.

“Only half of metro areas experienced a year-over-year gain in construction jobs—the fewest since March 2021,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “This appears to support other indications that investors and developers are delaying or canceling planned projects until they know how severely they’ll be affected by evolving tariff and workforce policies.”

For the third month in a row, Arlington-Alexandria-Reston, Va.-W.Va. added the most construction jobs (8,000 jobs or 9 percent) between May 2024 and May 2025. In second place was Cincinnati, Ohio-Ky.-Ind. (5,400 jobs, 10 percent), followed by Washington, D.C.-Md. (4,900 jobs, 10 percent); Boise City, Idaho (4,700 jobs, 13 percent); and Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla. (4,500 jobs, 8 percent). Las Cruces, N.M. again had the largest percentage gain (17 percent or 700 jobs), followed by New Orleans-Metairie and four metros with 13 percent increases: Boise City; Paducah, Ky.-Ill. (500 jobs added); Elmira, N.Y. (200 jobs); and Canton-Massillon, Ohio (1,200 jobs).

Construction employment declined over the year in 121 metro areas and was unchanged in 59 areas. Thelargest job loss occurred in Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (-6,200 jobs, -5 percent), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (-5,100 jobs, -3 percent); Nassau County-Suffolk County, N.Y. (-4,300 jobs, -5 percent); New York City (-4,100 jobs, -3 percent); and Baton Rouge, La. (-4,000 jobs, -7 percent). The largest percentage decrease occurred in Niles, Mich. (-13 percent, -300 jobs), followed by Elizabethtown, Ky. (-9 percent, -200 jobs), and Sherman-Denison, Texas (-8 percent, -300 jobs).

Association officials noted that the latest construction spending figures released in early June show construction spending declined during the past 12 months. They added that developers and other construction owners appear more hesitant to launch construction projects until there is more certainty about tax rates, materials costs and worker availability.

“While Washington is working to prevent a massive tax increase, negotiate new trade deals and hopefully boost funding for workforce development, at this point nothing is set in stone,” said Jeffrey D. Shoaf, the association’s chief executive officer. “The sooner D.C. provides certainty on a host of issues, the more likely construction demand will rebound.”

View the metro employment data and top 10 changes.

The ass hasn’t fallen off the donkey just yet. But growth in only 50% of the metros is terrible. Some months the construction industry looks decent enough to avoid a terrible recession and other months it looks very bleak. But one would hope the best run companies will survive all of this uncertainty and this “high cost” of capital.