AGC Report: Private Sector Demand Boosts Construction Employment in America

As the economy of the U.S. is on the rebound, housing markets are also recovering slowly. In an earlier study conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), it was forecast that private construction demands would overshadow the public building demands.

Recent construction activity has shown that private sector demand has bolstered the creation of construction jobs across metros in the country.

In a recent press statement, AGC declared that construction jobs went up in 139 cities of the total 337 metro areas surveyed. The number of construction jobs spiked up due to the increasing demand in private sector projects.

Pascagoula, Mississippi, accounted for the highest percentage of job creations with 42 percent, followed by Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury, Massachusetts, recorded 22 percent of total job creations. Lafayette, Los Angeles, came in third creating 17 percent of the total jobs while Omaha-Council Bluffs, Nebraska, Iowa and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas, came in fourth and fifth with 16 and 10 percent of job creations, respectively.

The report also stated that while job creation in most metro areas went up, construction jobs remained unchanged in 33 metropolitan areas and declined in 133 areas as well.

The Atlanta Metropolitan area, Georgia, witnessed the steepest decline recording a 5 percent while Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Oregon, and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida, recorded 7 percentage.

The report also asserted that construction spending went up significantly throughout 2012 and is expected to increase in the coming year. Increased demand in energy, higher education and health care fields boosted construction spending in the past year.

However, the spending levels are still below $300 billion of peak levels. Commercial construction demand is weak and public sector construction activity is still low.

"Private sector demand for energy, health care, higher education and residential construction is having a positive impact in a growing number of metro areas. Unfortunately, construction employment in almost as many metro areas appears to be suffering from declining public sector demand and a private sector market that is still well-below peak levels." Ken Simonson, chief economist at AGC told in the statement.

Though private sector demand has been growing for now, doubts about its stalling are still prevalent. If the demand in the sector gets held-up, construction jobs might take a blow, leading the recovering market to tumble downhill again.

For the complete list of the cities, check out the official website of AGC.