CHICAGO—The US unemployment rate now hovers at around 4.5%, thelowest in many years, and the recent construction labor shortagecontinues to deepen across the nation, according to the latestgovernment report. This workforce has not grown significantlyduring the last nine months, and researchers see no sign of anincrease. Therefore, industry professionals expect wages toincrease at a faster rate. Furthermore, they believe many builderswill begin using new construction technologies to offset thatchallenge.
Despite the headwinds, commercial real estate kept expanding inthe third quarter, according to a new report from JLL that tracks national constructiontrends. Construction spending was up 1.9% over 2016levels and contractor and subcontractor work was also up 1.4%.
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
