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Oregon lost 4,000 construction jobs in the past year, according to federal data, as the coronavirus pandemic took its toll.

The decline was 4 percent, from 112,400 in September 2019 to 108,400 in September 2020.

Most of the job losses came in the Portland-metro area 鈥� 2,700 (a 3 percent drop) during the 12-month period. Construction employment fell from 78,200 to 75,500 in the Portland-Hillsboro-Vancouver metropolitan statistical area.

The construction job losses in Oregon were in line with those across the U.S.; national losses totaled 279,000 (3.7 percent), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Associated General Contractors of America released an on Oct. 28.

鈥淲e’ve been gratified the construction industry was allowed to continue during the pandemic so far,鈥� said Mike Salsgiver, executive director of AGC’s Oregon-Columbia chapter. 鈥淲e are seeing some softening of the economy. We are seeing some projects that are being deferred or delayed or canceled.鈥�

Craft jobs have been especially hard hit, said Travis Baker, president and CEO of Andersen Construction.

Andersen and other general contractors were becoming more efficient before the pandemic, largely driven by necessity due to a skilled labor shortage, Baker said. That has accelerated since COVID-19 hit.

鈥淔or us, we think it’s primarily down to we just needed less bodies to do a similar amount of work,鈥� he said.

Andersen’s overall workload hasn’t changed, Baker said. But the need for labor has.

鈥淥ur industry is continually searching for ways to lower the cost of building, and a huge amount of that cost is labor,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e’re always looking at ways to get two things done with one person instead of two.鈥�

Baker said he sees steady work ahead for at least the next 24 months.

鈥淚t feels still robust 鈥� just a little less consistent,鈥� he said.

Public-sector development is forging ahead, including the Port of Portland’s $2 billion PDX Next group of modernization projects and work for school districts. Portland voters on Tuesday approved school bond measures totaling $1.2 billion that will power projects at Jefferson, Roosevelt and Benson Polytechnic high schools as well as pre-construction planning for major projects at Cleveland and Wilson high schools.

鈥淭he public school systems are continuing to be a good source of employment and will be for the next few years,鈥� Baker said.

Higher education is also busy. Andersen is working on projects for Oregon State University in Corvallis, Washington State University in Vancouver and the University of Washington in Tacoma.

Not every place in Oregon saw its construction workforce shrink. The Bend-Redmond area, Corvallis and Medford each added about 100 jobs.

The largest gainer in the nation was in the Pacific Northwest. Construction employment in Walla Walla, Washington, grew 25 percent, although that amounted to only 300 more jobs.

Kyle Tarbet, president and CEO of the Walla Walla Chamber of Commerce, said there are no large-scale projects in the city that could have driven that increase. There is a more likely explanation, he said.

鈥淲e have been kind of backed up in the need for residential (space), so it’s probably just catching up,鈥� he said.