Construction employment continues to outperform other industries across Minnesota, with the northwest region emerging as the state’s strongest growth leader, according to new data from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
Statewide, construction added nearly 12,000 jobs in the year ending in November, marking an 8.3 percent increase and making it one of the fastest-growing sectors in Minnesota’s economy. But growth has been even more pronounced in the northwest portion of the state, where long-term trends show sustained momentum.
An earlier analysis by Anthony Schaffhauser, DEED’s analyst for the northwest region — which includes roughly 26 counties — found that construction employment there grew by 17.6 percent between 2019 and 2024. By comparison, construction jobs statewide increased by about 8.1 percent over the same period.
“Construction in northwest Minnesota is the growth leader,” Schaffhauser said. “It's outpacing all the other sectors, all the other industry sectors, and also outpacing construction in all the other Minnesota regions."
Schaffhauser noted that health care was the only other industry in the region to add more than 1,000 jobs during that period. However, given the relative size of construction compared to health care, the pace of growth stands out.
"It's punching a lot higher than its weight, so to speak, in terms of its size in (the) northwest," he said.
While both residential and commercial construction posted gains, Schaffhauser said commercial activity has been the primary driver behind the region’s rapid job growth. Infrastructure investments, in particular, have played a major role.
"(That’s) including utility systems, including highway bridge construction and including the heavy and civil engineering construction in the region,” he said. “And then also the contractors that supply all of this."
Unless major economic conditions change, Schaffhauser said the trend appears durable and is expected to continue over the long term.
For local contractors like Adam Schlepp, owner of Adam Schlepp Drywall LLC in Fergus Falls, the strong employment outlook aligns with what he’s seeing on the ground. Schlepp specializes in drywall installation and finishing and works across both residential and commercial markets.
"The increase on the residential side has been coming from brand new home builds, a lot of those being on lake properties,” he said. “And commercial work (is) pretty steady. It seems like communities are growing and new buildings are going up everywhere, and they need drywall as soon as they build something new."
Schlepp said his busiest stretch typically runs from spring through early fall, when non-residential work is most active. His company completes approximately 70 to 100 projects each year.
"When it comes to commercial work, we've done everything from break rooms, additions to commercial buildings, new commercial buildings and even small, 10-hour patch jobs,” he said. “It's just all kind of situational, and we see everything from banks to funeral homes to public buildings."
Despite rising material costs, Schlepp said demand has remained strong. In fact, he expanded his workforce to keep pace.
“Last summer was the most employees I've ever had," Schlepp said.
While work typically slows during winter months, Schlepp said projects already on the books point to steady activity once seasonal conditions improve.
Construction trends are often closely watched by economists as a signal of broader economic health. Erick Garcia Luna, regional outreach director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, described the sector as a key indicator.
“(Construction) often serves as the bellwether of the economy,” Garcia Luna said.
Garcia Luna explained that confidence among households and developers tends to drive investment decisions.
“And that investment is going to trickle through the sector and throughout the economy,” he said. “The opposite is going to happen if investment is held back.”
Looking ahead, DEED’s employment outlook projects the northwest region will add about 1,000 more construction jobs by 2032. Recent job reports also show Minnesota added roughly 8,900 jobs between September and November, even as employment growth nationally remained “essentially flat.”
Originally reported by Mathew Holding Eagle III, Fergus Falls, Minn in MPR News.
.png)
