DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado is among a number of states where construction employment was down between May and June, according to an analysis released Friday.
There were 1,300 construction jobs lost in the state during the time period, according to data released by the Associated General Contractors of America. In addition to Colorado, construction industry employment decreased in 25 states and the District of Columbia.
Ken Simson, the association’s chief economist, attributed the number of lost jobs to “aggressive deportation measures” and a “tightening of legal immigration.”
“Without access to qualified workers, contractors will have trouble delivering vitally advanced manufacturing, infrastructure, power, and data center projects,” Simson said in a statement.
The decrease between May and June remains on trend with a reported loss of 5,100 construction jobs in Colorado from June 2024 to June 2025.
The association is now urging policymakers to quickly expand worker authorization programs, so there will be “sufficient skilled construction workers to complete essential projects.”
“The administration can’t achieve its ambition of bringing back manufacturing jobs without enough construction workers with the right skills to build new plants and other structures needed to support them,” said AGC CEO Jeffrey Shoaf, in a statement. “That can’t happen unless there are worker authorization programs that allow hiring construction workers on a timely basis.”
