Marcum is pleased to provide the latest in a series of annual analyses focused on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.

The past two years were supposed to be difficult for the construction industry. Input prices surged during 2021 and early 2022, rising more than 40% above pre-pandemic levels. Then, due to rampant economywide inflation, the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates in March 2022 and quickly hiked them to the highest rate in over two decades. With borrowing costs elevated and banks facing pressure from deteriorating commercial real estate valuations and a spate of failures in early 2023, would-be financiers tightened their lending standards, reducing the volume of projects that could go forward.