NYC construction jobs grow 6 percent year-over-year

Jobs in New York City’s construction industry rose 6 percent year-over-year in June, according to a report today from the Associated General Contractors of America.

The city ranks 85th among metro areas across the U.S.in terms of construction employment, the numbers show. The city added 6,600 jobs over a 12-month span, bringing the total count from 116,200 to 122,800 jobs in construction, logging and mining together. Nationwide, construction jobs increased in 191 out of 339 metro areas from June to June. Jobs were static in 51 of them, and decreased in 97. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass., and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas, tied for the largest number of jobs added in that time period: 9,900.

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., saw the biggest job decline, at 5,500 jobs – a drop of 9 percent from June 2012, the report said.

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“Although construction activity remains extremely spotty, with strong residential activity offsetting lackluster private nonresidential investment and shrinking public construction spending, workers are being hired in more and more metro areas,” Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist, said in the report. “There is widespread good news for now but the industry remains far below previous employment peaks in most markets.” — Mark Maurer