Construction workers seeking job opportunities have the best odds in the residential sector. Though still lagging behind national unemployment averages, construction employment outlook is creeping upward due to home sales.
Housing numbers improved markedly in September, with new home sales improving 5.7%. The 27% increase during the past year brings the United States to a high not seen since the recession deepened in 2009.
Housing sales jumped along with a 14.4% increase in home building. Since peaking in 2006, residential home building was on a six-year decline. This upswing is a needed positive for the struggling construction industry. Permits for the construction of new homes are on the rise, so residential project employment should continue to grow.
Construction jobs are not available just everywhere, though. Certain regions are adding new homes exponentially, but others remain impacted by the decline in the housing market. Knowing where to look can aid tremendously in the job hunt.
One city hit particularly hard when the housing bubble burst was Phoenix, but the Valley of the Sun’s construction job market increased 7% in August. Sacramento is another area where the construction industry has been deeply affected in recent years, but its market grew 24.3% through the summer.
Nowhere in the U.S. has recent demand been greater than Washington, D.C., though.
The nation’s capital is providing construction workers at a pace not experienced since before the recession – the recession of 1991, that is. D.C. building is at a 22-year high, providing those seeking work an aggressive market to peruse.
There are regions still lagging. The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that construction jobs in Nevada are lingering below 50,000, nearly 100,000 fewer than their 2006 peak.
Construction listings currently posted on CareerCast.com span several regions around the nation, as well as a number of different fields.