Year-over-year (YoY), total nonfarm employment increased by 2.4 million jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis (SA), or 1.6% from February 2019 to February 2020. During this time, total nonfarm employment in the Western region increased by 1.8%. The South, Northeast, and Midwest recorded gains at 1.5%, 1.0% and 0.4% respectively, during this time. It is important to note that this is historical data and it doesn’t reflect the millions of employees who were laid off or furloughed due to the spread of the Coronavirus.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 38 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in 11 states, in February  compared to the previous month. Montana was unchanged. Texas added 50,400 jobs, which was the largest gain of any state. The largest decline came from Minnesota, which lost 4,500 jobs during this time. Nationwide, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 273,000 over the month of February, following a revised increase of 273,000 jobs in January.

Year-over-year, ending in February, 43 states and the District of Columbia increased in employment. Seven states reported declines in payroll employment. Texas added 314,500 workers while the smallest gain came from Hawaii which added 100 workers during this time. In percentage terms, 11 states recorded annualized growth rates equal to and/or above 1.6% in employment, which was the national growth rate. Utah recorded the highest growth rate at 2.9%.

In the construction sector specifically, which includes both residential and non-residential construction, across the 48 states which reported construction sector jobs data, 35 states had an increase in February , while 11 states reported a decline compared to January. Two states were unchanged. The construction industry gained 42,000 jobs in February compared to the previous month . California added 7,800 jobs, the highest gains in construction employees while Colorado lost 3,200 workers during this time.

Year-over-year, the U.S added 223,000 construction sector jobs which is a 3.0% increase compared to February 2019. Texas added 35,700 jobs, which was the largest gains of any state while Louisiana lost 8,200 jobs, which was the largest decline of any state. In percentage terms, New Mexico had the highest annual growth rate in construction sector by 8.8%. Over this period, West Virginia reported the largest decline at 12.5%.

Tags: construction labor, economics, state and local markets, state employment