A new report shows 21-thousand fewer construction jobs in Louisiana compared to February 2020. The 15% loss is the second-highest in the country. Louisiana Associated General Contractors CEO Ken Naquin says the pandemic slowed down the chemical industry and the oil and gas industry is reeling from the President’s executive order that prohibits new oil and gas exploration.
“That industry has really taken a hit and has not rebounded since,” said Naquin.
Naquin says there are plenty of construction projects that can be completed, but supply chain challenges are impacting firms’ ability to hire new workers.
“Louisiana’s commercial, highway, underground utility, coastal contractors have a lot of work, but the availability of materials and the cost of materials is constraining some of that work,” said Naquin.
Naquin is glad that the Legislature made plans this year to dedicate more state dollars for road, bridge, and drainage construction, but the construction industry is a long way from full recovery.
“It’s a tremendous amount of work coming our way, the problem again will be workforce availability, price and materials, and the availability of those materials,” said Naquin.
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