The Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury and Springfield metropolitan areas have been ranked first and second, respectively, in construction employment across the country for the month of May.

There were 4,400 construction jobs in Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury metro area in May, a 22 percent increase from May 2010, according to a recent report from The Associated General Contractors of America. There were 11,100 construction jobs in May in the Springfield metro area, boasting a 17 percent increase year-over-year.

Other Bay State metro areas that with year-over-year increases in construction jobs included Leominster-Fitchburg-Gardner (6 percent), Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford (3 percent), New Bedford (5 percent), Peabody (4 percent), Pittsfield (8 percent) and Worcester (1 percent). Construction employment for both the Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton and Framingham metro areas remained flat. Construction employment in the metro areas of Barnstable Town and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy decreased by 8 percent and 1 percent, respectively. As a whole, construction employment in Massachusetts increased 1 percent in May compared to the same time last year.

Nationwide, construction employment increased in 120 out of 337 metropolitan areas between May 2010 and May 2011, declined in 162 and stayed level in 55, according to a statement.

"While construction employment has stopped plunging, any sign of a recovery remains spotty at best," said Ken Simonson, chief economist, The Associated General Contractors of America. "The close to even split between areas adding and losing jobs is a reminder that for every market doing well, there is another market that is still hurting."