During what has been a harrowing year for the construction industry nationwide, Dallas/Ft. Worth saw a small recovery as lockdown regulations eased in late spring, with 1,200 new building sector jobs created in May.
The Dallas Morning News reported back in June of this year,
“Nationwide construction employment is bouncing back from the worst of the pandemic. And the Dallas-Fort Worth area is adding more construction sector jobs, too. Construction employment rose in all but a few U.S. metro areas in May compared with April, according to the latest survey by the Associated General Contractors of America. D-FW construction jobs increased by an estimated 1,200 jobs in May from the previous month.”
But now, as the year begins to wind down and the height of the construction season is past, the outlook may no longer seem as rosy.
AGC, Associated General Contractors of America noted in an article published at the beginning of the month,
“The AGC of America-Autodesk Workforce Survey, released last month, found that 38 percent of respondents—whose firms perform all types of nonresidential construction–expect it will take more than six months for their firm’s volume of business to return to normal, relative to a year earlier. That percentage topped the 29 percent who reported business was already at or above year-ago levels.
A likely reason for the more pessimistic outlook is the rapid increase in postponed or canceled projects, the economist said. He noted that the latest survey found 60 percent of firms report a scheduled project has been postponed or canceled, compared to 12 percent that had won new or additional work as a result of the pandemic.
While DFW waits for jobs to return to all areas of its construction industry, it may be comforting to remember that North Texas was the nationwide leader in construction job growth before the pandemic hit, adding 10,000 building jobs back in March.
