With house building in the US surging, job growth should be tracking up proportionally. An ENR article describes why that’s not the case.

Simply stated, the construction recession lasted too long and many of the laid off workers found other jobs. Some paid better, but even those that didn’t have the advantage of not having the cyclic swing of construction. Many of the illegal immigrants that do construction work returned to their native lands. Many of the Mexicans returned to home to a strong economy with decent job prospects, they may not not need to come back to USA.

Of course, this trend doesn’t occur equally throughout America, but the areas that have the most housing growth are seeing construction wages increase for qualified folks. So you may need to travel, but the work (and the pay) is there.

The National Association of Home Builders says nearly half its members who responded to a survey in March said a scarcity of labor has led to delays in completing work. Fifteen percent have had to turn down some projects.

“I can’t find qualified people to fill the positions that I have open,” says Vishaal Gupta, president of Park Square Homes in Orlando, Fla. If not for the labor shortage, “I would be able to build more homes this year and meet more demand than I can handle today.”

As an industry, we need to see wages go up and recruit more young people into the trades. As an individual, you may see an opportunity here.