OSHA Vaccine Mandate Withdrawal Will Ease Sector’s Labor Challenges As Construction Firms Struggle To Reach Pre-Pandemic Job Levels

New York, Louisiana Have Worst Losses Between December & February 2020, While Utah, South Dakota Top Gainers; Florida, Alabama, Rhode Island Have Worst One-Month Losses & Texas, West Virginia Have Best Gains

Construction employment in December remained below levels reached just before the start of the pandemic in more than half the states as firms struggled to find enough workers to hire, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. But the Biden Administration’s decision today to withdraw its emergency vaccine mandate for firms that employ 100 or more people will help firms avoid losing workers unwilling to comply with the new measure.

The decision by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration to withdraw its emergency temporary standard requiring workers at firms that employ 100 or more people to be vaccinated or tested weekly comes after the Supreme Court signaled its strong support for legal challenges filed by the Associated General Contractors of America and other entities against the measure.

The association challenged the rule late last year noting that the measure was unlawful and would do little to boost vaccination rates among construction workers, citing the fact that 64 percent of the construction industry works for firms that employ 99 or fewer people. With nearly 90 percent of construction firms having a hard time finding workers to hire, the rule would simply have encouraged vaccine-hesitant workers to move to smaller firms.

“The Biden administration is right to abandon its misguided vaccine emergency rule and we encourage them to do the same with a similar measure affecting federal contractors that we are also challenging in court,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer. “At the same time, we will continue to work with the administration to ensure its planned permanent vaccine rule applies only to workers in industries like healthcare that OSHA deems at high risk from the coronavirus.”

From February 2020—the month before the pandemic—to last month, construction employment declined in 26 states, rose in 23 states and D.C., and was flat in Montana. New York lost the most construction jobs over the period (-42,000 jobs or -10.3 percent), followed by Texas (-30,200 jobs, -3.9 percent) and California (-22,300 jobs, -2.4 percent). The largest percentage losses were in Louisiana (-12.6 percent, -17,200 jobs), Wyoming (-10.9 percent, -2,500 jobs), and New York.

Utah added the most construction jobs since February 2020 (10,000 jobs, 8.8 percent), followed by Washington (8,200 jobs, 3.7 percent) and North Carolina (7,900 jobs, 3.4 percent). The largest percentage gains were in South Dakota (10.5 percent, 2,500 jobs), followed by Utah and Idaho (8.2 percent, 4,500 jobs).

From November to December construction employment decreased in 16 states, increased in 32 states and D.C., and was flat in Nevada and South Dakota. Florida lost the most jobs (-3,400 jobs, -0.6 percent), followed by New York (-2,900 jobs, -0.8 percent) and Pennsylvania (-1,200 jobs, -0.5 percent).

Texas added the most jobs from November to December (10,400 jobs, 1.4 percent), followed by Ohio (5,700 jobs, 2.4%) and Missouri (3,700 jobs, 2.9 percent). West Virginia had the largest percentage gain (4.6 percent, 1,500 jobs), followed by New Mexico (3.2 percent, 1,600 jobs) and Louisiana (3.0 percent, 3,500 jobs).

View state February 2020-December 2021 data and rankings, 1-month rankings.