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.
Related Stories
Housing Markets
Texas Is Home to More Than One Overvalued Metro
The 2008 housing bubble missed Texas, but the popular Sun Belt state is now home to some of the priciest regional markets in the nation
Market Data + Trends
Housing Inventory Is Falling at Its Slowest Pace in Two Years
April for-sale housing inventory fell at a single-digit year-over-year pace for the first time since the start of the pandemic
Economics
Lessons Learned From a Decade of Home-Price Inflation
Years of endless supply constraints are leaving their mark on the U.S. economy, and the housing market is taking the biggest hit
