For the 13th straight month, Texas added a record number of nonfarm jobs in November, and construction employment in particular continues to grow in Dallas.
Dallas-Plano-Irving added 13,500 “Mining, Logging, and Construction” jobs this year, a 9% increase, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America covering November of last year through 2022.
Dallas saw the second biggest increase in the U.S. this year behind Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, which added 18,500 construction jobs, according to AGC data.
Texas added 33,600 nonfarm jobs in November 2022 and 657,600 jobs for the year, bringing the total number for nonfarm employment to 13,672,900 — a new record high, as The Dallas Express reported.
But North Texas and U.S. home builders are decreasing production due to high home prices and loan rates, as The Dallas Express reported earlier this month. More than a third fewer single-family houses were started in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the third quarter of 2021.
In many parts of the country, though, demand for building still remains high, according to AGC. Yet many contractors say they do not bid on projects because they do not have enough workers.
“Contractors report they are passing on projects because they do not have enough people to do the work,” said Ken Simonson, the chief economist for AGC, in a press release. “Labor shortages are suppressing job gains in the construction industry in many parts of the country.”
Another problem facing Dallas contractors and construction workers is the city’s building permit backlog, which has improved slightly over the past year but still hampers progress, as The Dallas Express has extensively reported. The City of Dallas is notoriously difficult to build in, and the backlogged permitting process overseen by City Manager T.C. Broadnax contributes to high building rents and negative growth.
Areas of Texas that saw decreases in construction work were led by Austin-Round Rock (-1,400 jobs) and San Antonio-New Braunfels, which lost 1,100 construction jobs since 2021.
In November, 20,200 jobs were added to the leisure and hospitality sector, the most of any trade, according to the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). The Education and Health Services sector added 5,400 jobs, the second most in the state. Unemployment was reported at 3.7%, down from 4.5% in November of last year.
“The extraordinary job growth we’ve seen over the past years shows that Texas continues to be the best place for business,” said TWC Commissioner Representing Employers Aaron Demerson. “In addition, TWC continues to be a support system for our Texas employers, large and small, by providing resources to keep our economy thriving.”
