Arizona’s Construction Worker Shortage : A Homebuilder’s Headache
Arizona is not keeping up with national construction job growth, recent data shows. This is according to a report by KTAR News. The United States broke this decade's record by adding 58,000 construction jobs nationally, according to the most recent Employment Situation Summary, while the number of Arizona construction workers has actually gone down.
While the 2006 housing boom sparked the hiring of more than 240,000 construction workers statewide, this number is now down to 134,000, according to the news report. Citing economist Rick Merritt, KTAR News reports that this has caused builders to pay higher wages. It has also caused the actual building process to take longer. This increase in time and money could outweigh money-saving techniques such as the installation of vinyl siding, whi...