The national March not seasonally adjusted construction unemployment rate was 6.7 percent, a 1.3 percent increase from March 2025, according to a state-by-state analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released recently by Associated Builders and Contractors. The analysis found that only two states—Louisiana and Ohio—had lower estimated construction unemployment rates over the same period, four had the same rate and 44 had higher rates. All but six states had construction unemployment rates below 10 percent.
National NSA payroll construction employment was 58,000 higher than March 2025, its 12th straight month of year-over-year increases below 100,000. Seasonally adjusted payroll construction employment was 8.3 million, or 9.3 percent above its pre-pandemic peak of 7.6 million.
Estimated state construction unemployment rates were lower than their pre-pandemic (February 2020) level in 20 states. As of March 2026, 19 states had lower construction unemployment rates compared to March 2019, and 31 states had higher rates.
“The Iran war and resulting hike in energy prices are negatively affecting the construction industry, which was already struggling with insurance premium increases, escalating labor costs, shortages of skilled labor and elevated interest rates,” says Bernard Markstein, president and chief economist of Markstein Advisors, who conducted the analysis for ABC. “Consequently, some projects have been scaled back, put on hold or abandoned altogether. With slower construction activity, demand for construction workers is growing more slowly.”
Recent Month-to-Month Fluctuations
In March, the national NSA construction unemployment rate declined 0.2 percent from February. Among the states, 28 had lower rates, 20 states came in with higher rates and two states (Kansas and Maine) had the same estimated construction unemployment rates as in February.
The Top States
The seven states with the lowest-estimated NSA construction unemployment rates for March were:
- Oklahoma, 2.8 percent
- South Dakota, 2.9 percent
- Tennessee, 3.4 percent
- New Hampshire, 3.5 percent
- Colorado, Hawaii and North Carolina (tie), 4.1 percent
South Dakota had its second-lowest March NSA estimated construction unemployment rate on record at 2.9 percent, behind last year’s 2.7 percent rate. Note that Hawaii’s unemployment rate is for construction plus mining and logging.
The Bottom States
The five states with the highest NSA construction unemployment rates in March were:
- New Mexico, 11.7 percent
- New Jersey, 12.9 percent
- Minnesota, 13.2 percent
- Connecticut, 14.8 percent
- Rhode Island, 16.2 percent
Rhode Island had the largest decline in its rate from February among the states, down 3.4 percent. Connecticut had the third-largest monthly decline, down 2.7 percent.
Click here to view graphs of U.S. and state overall unemployment rates (Tab 1) and construction unemployment rates (Tab 2) showing the impact of the pandemic, including a graphing tool that creates a chart for multiple states. To better understand the basis for calculating unemployment rates and what they measure, check out the Background on State Construction Unemployment Rates.
