
Rebuilding America's pool of construction workers
OCTOBER 1, 2017, 9:09 AM| When the 2008 recession hit homeowners - and homebuilders - hard, more than 1.5 million residential construction workers left the industry. Fewer than half of those jobs have since been recovered, and few young people are looking to careers in construction, plumbing, welding, and other skilled trades. Mark Strassmann looks at the shortage of skilled labor (desperately needed to build or repair housing in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria)