• While overall employment in the State of New Mexico increased 4.57% between 1997 and 2002, employment within the construction industry rose by 14.14%, creating 5,611 new construction jobs as well as creating 95 new construction establishments in 5 years.

• While the average worker in New Mexico brought home $26,825 in pay in 2002, the state’s construction workers made on average $29,354, an increase of 8.62% more than the average worker in New Mexico. 

• The number of businesses in New Mexico grew from 34,170 in 1997 to 34,512 in 2002, an increase of 1.00%.  Construction establishments in New Mexico however, increased by 2.03% from 4,673 in 1997 to 4,768 in 2002.

• Of the 342 new businesses established between 1997 and 2002 in New Mexico, 95 or 27.78% of those establishments were in the construction industry. 

• According to Union Membership and Coverage Database, available at www.unionstats.com, in 2006, only 11.7 percent of New Mexico’s private construction workforce belonged to a construction trade union.  That means that approximately 88 out of 100 New Mexico’s private construction workers do not belong to a labor union.

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

• The dollar threshold amount for contract coverage under state prevailing wage laws in New Mexico is $60,000.