The year-over-year rise in single-family home construction contributes approximately 500,000 jobs to the U.S. economy, according to an analysis released today by Regional Economic Models Inc. (REMI).

This net gain in jobs accounts for about a quarter of the approximately 2 million jobs added to the economy from July 2012 to July 2013, REMI’s analysis indicates. During the same period, single-family housing starts rose from an annualized number of 512,000 to 591,000.

"Construction of new homes is a major driver of our economy at the national and state levels," Frederick Treyz, CEO and chief economist of REMI, said in a statement. "We estimate that for every new house constructed, between four and five new jobs on average are created."

The greatest net gains occurred in Texas, 59,600 jobs, Florida, 54,000 jobs, California, 30,200 jobs, Georgia, 25,200 jobs, and North Carolina, 22,300 jobs, according to the analysis. In Massachusetts, 4,300 construction jobs were added. 

REMI’s economists estimated job gains, both nationally and state-by-state, using REMI’s regarded economic model. They utilized data from the U.S. Census Bureau on annualized single-family housing starts.