2024 Retail Fit Out Cost Guide

RETAIL FIT OUT COST GUIDE 2024

LABOR CONSTRAINTS PERSIST

Employment growth in the construction sector has been tempered due to the sector’s inability to fill open positions with qualified candidates. In 2023, 41,800 nonresidential building construction jobs were added, a number that would have been higher if there were more candidates with the required qualifications available. This still represents a 4.9% YOY increase, which is nearly double the 2.5% increase for overall construction employment and significantly above total employment growth (1.7%). As of November 2023, construction sector quits grew 28% YOY, straining a significantly constrained construction labor market. On an annualized basis, hires for November 2023 lag open positions by 97,000 jobs. This gap is nearly nine times larger than it was a year ago. Overall, openings continue to trend higher than the pre-pandemic period. Current openings are nearly double the two-year pre-pandemic average in 2018 and 2019.

To attract labor to the market, construction firms have increased compensation incentives, increasing hourly wages to an average of $34.92 per hour as of December 2023.

LABOR CONSTRAINTS CONTINUE TO IMPACT THE U.S. CONSTRUCTION SECTOR

U.S. CONSTRUCTION JOB OPENINGS OUTPACE HIRING

Openings Hires Quits

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800

Job Openings and Labor Turnover: Construction, (Ths. #, SA)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

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