Rather than wait and see whether modest gains in construction activity this summer heralded a return to economic stability, many builders in the Midwest and elsewhere are heading for the exits.
Although national construction employment inched to a 15-month high in July and remained virtually unchanged in August, “unemployed workers are leaving the industry at seven times the rate they are finding jobs in it,” says Ken Simonson, chief economist with the Arlington, Va.-based Associated General Contractors of America.