“Nonresidential construction backlog declined for a second consecutive month as skills and input shortages hammer the industry,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu.
The construction industry added 22,000 jobs on net in September. Overall, the industry has recovered 912,000 (81.9%) of the jobs lost during earlier stages of the pandemic.
Among those not in the labor force in September, 1.6 million persons were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic. Employment in construction is 201,000 below its February 2020 level.
Jim Kowalski is owner and vice president of Kowalski Construction Inc. He is also president of the Restoration Affiliates board. Here, he shares secrets to success and lessons learned in growing his third-generation, family-run property restoration company. He also explains what Restoration Affiliates is.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has already created and accelerated a host of challenges for the construction industry, including a skilled workforce shortage, rising material costs, supply chain disruptions, jobsite shut-downs, additional health and safety protocols and new government regulations. The forthcoming ETS only adds to this long list of concerns," the statement read.
Higher materials prices and labor costs have put more projects on hold and, in many cases, rendered projects infeasible, ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu said.
Dr. Anirban Basu, chief economist with Associated Builders and Contractors, shares the latest construction confidence index and backlog indicator results, plus what they mean. He also covers a big area of opportunity for restoration and remediation contractors: adaptive reuse of existing structures.
ABC’s Construction Confidence Index readings for sales, profit margins and staffing levels all fell modestly in July but remain above the threshold of 50.
