Tag: workforce shortage

Construction employment on Long Island saw another year-over-year drop in August, the sixth straight month of decline, according to a new report from the Associated General Contractors of America, blaming the shrinking number of jobs nationally on tariffs and workforce shortages. 

Nassau and Suffolk counties lost 4,900 construction jobs from August 2024 to August 2025, a 6 percent year-over-year decline, falling from 84,600 to 79,700, the AGCA reports.  

Regionally, the number of construction jobs in New York City was down 5 percent, losing 7,900 jobs from August 2024 to August 2025, falling from 145,500 to 137,600. New York City’s job loss was the largest of the 360 metro areas in the report.  

Nationally, construction employment rose in 177 of 360 metro areas between August 2024 and August 2025, while it declined in 125 metro areas and was unchanged in 58 areas, according to AGCA and new government employment data. It’s the fewest number of metro areas adding jobs since 2021. 

Association officials noted that many private-sector developers appear to be putting projects on hold amid rising prices caused by tariffs, workforce shortages and higher interest rates. 

“Construction employment has stalled or retreated in more and more areas as owners pull back on projects in the face of higher costs,” Ken Simonson, the AGCA’s chief economist, said in a written statement. “Workforce shortages, tariffs and higher interest rates are inflating construction costs and schedules to the point where many projects no longer appear to make sense to developers.” 

Here on Long Island, industry experts say the biggest obstacle is the lack of multifamily zoning that limits opportunities to build housing, the type of construction that’s in the greatest demand. 

“We face the same challenges, same material costs, same labor costs, all that stuff that everyone else across the nation faces,” Mike Florio, CEO of the Long Island Builders Institute, told LIBN. There is greater opportunity when you go to the Carolinas and Austin, Texas and Florida and the Southeast, when here there’s not as much opportunity to build. The lack of approvals and permitted jobs is holding Long Island’s economy back.” 

Nationally, there were 188,000 job openings in construction, seasonally adjusted, at the end of August, according to a government report, that’s a 38 percent decline from a year earlier and the lowest total since 2017. The data suggests even fewer areas are likely to have construction employment increases in the near future, Simonson said. A prolonged federal shutdown could also impact construction employment if public works projects are suspended or fail to get needed approvals to start because federal officials are unavailable to sign off, according to the statement. 

Metro areas adding the most construction jobs over the last year include the Arlington-Alexandria-Reston, Va. Area, which added 8,200 jobs for a 9 percent increase; followed by the Washington D.C area, which added 6,600 jobs for a 14 percent gain; and the Chicago area gaining 5,400 jobs for a 4 percent rise. 

Besides New York City, the metro areas seeing the largest drops in construction employment from August 2024 to August 2025 include the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. area which lost 6,500 jobs for a 6 percent drop; the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. area dropping 6,000 jobs for a 6 percent decline; and the Baton Rouge, La. area, which was down 5,700 jobs in an 11 percent decline.