US construction gains from May to June appear to have flattened out with construction employment rising in 31 states but falling in 18, according to the Associated General Contractors (ACG) of America.

According to worker hours data gathered by Procore, US construction productivity was approaching pre-pandemic levels at the end of May. In the week of 31 May, the majority of US states showed growth in construction productivity for the week as compared to the week of 1 March, with several other states showing little to no decline in productivity, Kallanish reports.

However, recent data gathered by Procore suggests that hours worked peaked at 15.1 million during the week of 7 June. Since then, preliminary totals slipped to 15m in the following week and 14.6m during the week of 21 June.

An employment analysis by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics earlier this month suggests that the US construction industry gained 158,000 jobs in June.

"The government’s employment snapshot was based on payrolls during the week of 12 June. More recent data collected by Procore on hours worked on jobsites suggests employment topped out around mid-June and may have begun to decline,” says Ken Simonson, AGC’s chief economist.

Although hours worked remain above data for the week of 1 March 1 in many states, 12 states have logged fewer site hours in late June than in early March, Simonson adds.

“Only the federal government has the means to keep infrastructure and other needed public construction on track,” notes AGC ceo Stephen Sandherr.