The construction industry in the Southwest received some good news in February as Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico all experienced year-over-year construction employment growth. Nevada led the way with 5,400 jobs added compared the same time last year.

 

The three states are among 43 states and Washington, D.C. that all added construction jobs over the past 12 months, according to a press release from The Associated General Contractors of America. Arizona and New Mexico also join 25 other states that added construction jobs between January and February this year.

 

Arizona
Arizona posted strong construction employment growth in February, adding 2,700 jobs month over month, according to non-seasonally adjusted numbers in Arizona’s Workforce Employment Report. The state added 8,100 construction jobs compared to last February, which amounts to year-over-year change of 6.5%, according to the report.

 

The seasonally-adjusted numbers paint a slightly different picture. According to figures released by The Associated General Contractors of America, Arizona had a total of 132,700 construction jobs in February, an increase of 6,300 jobs, or 5%, over the past 12 months. That 5% growth ranks 20th nationally.

 

The seasonally adjusted numbers also show Arizona gaining just 900 construction jobs between January and February this year. That growth rate of 0.7% ranks 19th nationally.

 

In January, overall non-farm employment in the state was at just over 2.67 million, which equates to a -1.8% change month over month and a 3% change year over year. In February, employment increased to just over 2.7 million, a change of 0.9% over January. The increase marked a 3% change year over year.

 

Arizona currently has a seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate of 5.5% compared to the national rate of 4.9%.

 

Nevada
In Nevada, seasonally-adjusted construction employment fell slightly from 73,400 jobs in January to 73,200 jobs in February, according to a press release from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. However, the overall trend is still positive as the sector added 5,000 jobs relative to February of last year.

 

While Nevada’s month over month construction employment growth rate of -0.3% ranks 33rd nationally, the state’s year over year growth rate of 7.3% ranks ninth nationally, according to numbers from The Associated General Contractors of America. Nevada’s non-seasonally adjusted growth rate in construction employment is 8.7%.

 

“February brought more good news for Nevada’s employment growth,” says Bill Anderson, chief economist for Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, in the release. “In February, there was a seasonally adjusted increase of 1,700 jobs relative to January. The Silver State experienced a 2.3 percent growth rate over the year, up 28,700 jobs. Construction, the hardest hit sector during the recession, continued to lead the state in terms of percentage growth. Year-to-date, it is up 8.3 percent relative to the first two months of last year, which equates to an additional 5,400 construction jobs in the state.”

 

Overall, non-farm employment was up 2.3% year over year in February. February’s seasonally-adjusted employment total of just over 1.275 million jobs also marked an increase over January’s total of slightly over 1.273 million jobs.

 

Nevada’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate of 5.9% in February marks a decrease of 0.3% from January and is well-below the February 2015 mark of 7%.

 

New Mexico
February was a big month in construction employment for New Mexico as preliminary non-seasonally adjusted numbers have the state adding 1,700 jobs year over year in the sector, the largest gain in construction jobs in the state since April 2015, according to a press release from the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions.

 

Seasonally-adjusted numbers from The Associated General Contractors of America have the state adding 1,900 jobs year over year, bringing total construction employment in the state to 45,400 jobs in February. That is good for a year over year growth rate of 4.4%, which ranks 26th nationally. New Mexico’s month over month seasonally-adjusted construction employment growth rate of 2% ranks seventh nationally.

 

New Mexico’s overall seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate is down 0.1% year over year in February to 6.4%. That figure also marks a decrease of 0.1% month over month. Total non-farm employment in the state is up 300 jobs in February compared to the same month last year to a total of 822,100 jobs.