Construction Worker Shortage Continues to Worsen

​The Commercial Construction Index says 91 percent​ of contractors surveyed reported having a difficult time finding skilled workers.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were almost 225,000 construction jobs that need to be filled each month of the first quarter of 2018, and 91 percent of industry professionals say they are having a "difficult or moderately difficult" time finding skilled workers, per U.S. News & World Report. Those working in construction have seen 3.6 percent wage growth from May 2017 to the same month in 2018. President and founder of Goliath Construction Consulting in Tampa, Fla. Tyson Conrad notes, "For so long, it was seen that if you worked with a hard hat, you didn't make a lot of money and you were a dummy. I can tell you that is contrary to everything that is reality."

The United States has a building problem. The country that paved one of the most expansive highway and transportation systems on the planet, that festooned a riverside between Maryland and Virginia with ornate marble and sandstone statues, columns and monuments in the creation of the nation's capital, that introduced architectural marvels to the world ranging from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Empire State Building to the Space Needle, is now dogged by an ailing construction industry.

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