Construction jobs up in Tampa, Sarasota

Four metro areas in Florida, including Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater and North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, made the top 50 of a nationwide list of year-over-year construction employment gains, according to an Associated General Contractors of America report.

The Tampa region gained 5,700 jobs from December 2012 to December 2013, a rise of 11%, while Sarasota-Bradenton added 1,300 jobs, an 8% increase, the report shows. The other Sunshine State regions with employment gains in the top 50 nationally were Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville and Jacksonville, states the report, which is based on federal employment data. The Naples-Marco Island region gained 600 jobs, up 6%, while Cape Coral-Fort Myers lost 1,200 jobs, a 7% drop.

Construction employment on a national basis expanded in 192 metro areas, declined in 84 and was stagnant in 63 between December 2012 and December 2013, the report states. “Growing demand for apartment and single-family construction was behind a lot of the growth in most metro areas last year,” says Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist, in the release.