Dire Construction Labor Shortages; Rates Rise After Wage Growth Data

Dire Construction Labor Shortages; Rates Rise After Wage Growth Data

Nearly all of America's home builders say they are facing significant shortages of skilled labor , both in the form of direct labor and as subcontractors. The lack of all types of carpenters is especially critical. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) included a set of special questions about labor availability in its NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Survey in July and found that an inadequate supply of both labor and subcontractors was even more widespread than in July 2017. Paul Emrath, writing in NAHB's Eye on Housing blog says builders were asked about labor availability in 15 specific occupations and found shortages of labor directly employed by builders were at least fairly widespread for each of the 15 occupations, ranging from a low of 47 percent for building maintenance