employees are becoming harder to find and more expensive .
As the industry bounces back from pandemic-related downturns , contractors in some regions are struggling to find labor and wages have risen to record levels , the Marcum report said . In January 2021 , average hourly earnings of construction employees reached their highest level ever , $ 32.11 , and average weekly hours worked rose to their highest level since 2019 ’ s third quarter .
“ When the pandemic began , some thought ( and hoped ) that the massive job losses observed in March and April would mitigate the skilled labor shortages that have frustrated construction firms for years ,” wrote Anirban Basu , Marcum ’ s chief construction economist and author of the report . “ That simply hasn ’ t happened to any meaningful degree .”
The ABC analysis also found that last year ’ s nominal construction spending rose 4.8 % as employment fell 6.3 %. This was due to several factors , ABC said :
■ A spike in building materials and labor costs , attributed to shortages and supply chain disruptions .
■ A change in the mix of construction work which included more residential construction , a segment that saw some of the largest cost increases due to an uptick in lumber prices .
■ A labor supply reduction that encouraged faster than usual adoption of labor-saving technology by builders .
■ Improvement in the scheduling and logistics of building materials delivery .
■ Increased use of prefabrication and modularization .
■ A decrease in the number of smaller , less efficient construction companies as they went out of business .
MARCH 2021 • DITCHMEN 7