Rapidly rising hourly earnings enabled the construction industry to add 36,000 employees in May, but a record number of job openings going into the month suggests contractors want to hire even more workers, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new government data. Association officials said firms would have hired even more workers if they could find more people willing to work in the sector.
鈥淚t is encouraging that contractors were able to add workers in May, but they will need many more to meet the increasing demand for infrastructure and private nonresidential projects,鈥 said Ken Simonson, the association鈥檚 chief economist. 鈥淒espite steeply rising pay for hourly workers, job openings in construction hit an all-time high at the end of April, while the industry鈥檚 low unemployment rate suggests experienced workers are scarce.鈥
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