• While overall employment in the State of Florida increased 13.90% between 1997 and 2002, employment within the construction industry rose by 30.79%, creating 100,024 new construction jobs as well as 4,222 new construction establishments founded during those 5 years.

• While the average worker in Florida brought home $29,947 in pay in 2002, the state’s construction workers made on average $31,192, an increase of 3.99% more than the average worker in Florida. 

• Construction workers in Florida saw a salary increase of 15.11% from 1997-2002, compared to the average salary increase construction workers across the United States, which increased by 14.97%. 

• The number of businesses in Florida grew from 335,394 in 1997 to 360,240 in 2002, an increase of 7.41%.  Construction establishments in Florida however, increased by 11.53% from 36,608 in 1997 to 40,830 in 2002.

• Of the 24,846 new businesses established between 1997 and 2002 in Florida, 4,222 or 16.99% of those establishments were in the construction industry. 

• According to Union Membership and Coverage Database, available at www.unionstats.com, in 2006, only 3.1 percent of Florida’s private construction workforce belonged to a construction trade union.  That means that approximately 97 out of 100 Florida’s private construction workers do not belong to a labor union.

Data are from the U.S. Bureau of the Census except where noted.

• Florida does not have a state prevailing wage law