Notice the shortage of construction workers! It's been that way since the market/housing crash of 2008. Want to see housing prices get reasonable again? Three things:
More trained tradespeople to build homes.
Lower interest rates.
Towns allowing zoning to enable folks to build
America Still Has a Worker Shortage
The latest NFIB employment survey finds job openings across the economy.
By James Freeman, WSJ
Sept. 5, 2024 11:28 am ET
The latest NFIB survey finds that 66% of small transportation firms had job openings in August. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Believe it or not, the U.S. labor shortage may be getting worse. Job growth is “anemic on Main Street” but it’s not because owners of small firms aren’t still trying to hire. That’s according to the latest monthly employer survey from the National Federation of Independent Business, due out later today. NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg reports:
In NFIB’s August survey, 40 percent (seasonally adjusted) of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, up 2 points from July. Thirty-six percent have openings for skilled workers (up 4 points) and 15 percent have openings for unskilled labor (down 1 point).
The NFIB economist adds:
Job openings were the highest in the transportation, construction, and manufacturing sectors, and the lowest in the agriculture and finance sectors. Overall, the percent of firms with one or more job openings they can’t fill remains at exceptionally high levels. This indicates continued upward pressure on compensation and, ultimately, on inflation.
In a range of industries from transportation to manufacturing to professional services to retail, a higher percentage of small firms reported job openings in the NFIB August survey than in the organization’s August 2023 survey. Other NFIB findings underline the difficulty of finding workers who are ready, willing and able to do the job:
The percent of small business owners reporting labor quality as their top small business operating problem rose 2 points from July to 21 percent. The last time labor quality was at this level was January of this year. Labor cost reported as the single most important problem for business owners was unchanged at 9 percent, 4 points below the highest reading of 13 percent reached in December 2021.
Perhaps because of the disappointment in labor quality, many owners are still resisting what seems to be a necessity of handing out raises, according to NFIB:
Seasonally adjusted, a net 33 percent reported raising compensation, unchanged from July and the lowest reading since April 2021. A net 20 percent (seasonally adjusted) plan to raise compensation in the next three months, up 2 points from July.
Not that owners are ever thrilled to have to raise their labor costs, but they may be resisting the need to pay up because they are pessimistic about the economy and figure that soon they’ll be able to get more labor for less. According to the latest NFIB report:
A seasonally adjusted net 13 percent of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months, down 2 points from July. Job creation plans are below the levels seen the last time the economy experienced solid growth.
Mr. Dunkelberg for his part doesn’t seem all that optimistic either, and expects the economy to show “weaker private sector growth in the coming quarters.”
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