The scarcity of labor by Trump’s migratory crusade enlarges cracks in the construction sector

Summer has been very cold for the labor market in the United States. Not only were only 22,000 new net jobs created in August, but also for the first time since December 2020, employment was destroyed in June. The beginning of winter in employment was already a fact for a long time in some sectors of the economy such as manufacturing or the mining and oil sector. Also in the construction in which on Friday the loss of employment was verified in the last three months. It is an area in which about 34% of workers are born abroad and the onslaught policy are opening a deep crack that affects not only these foreign workers but also to nationals, companies in the sector and in progress. (AGCE and NCCER respectively). Almost a third of companies say they have been directly or indirectly affected by immigration authorities in the last six months, which aggravates the problem of 92% of respondents, who report problems to find workers. Specifically, 5% of respondents say their works have been subject to immigration agents, but also 10% have seen how their workers have abandoned the rumors of possible actions of the authorities. The raids not only affect those who have no authorization to work. The chief economist of AGCE, Ken Simonson, explains that many immigrants with authorization to work also fear at the service of customs immigration and control (ICE) by how a raid can affect their relatives or other communities close at risk if they were overwhelmed by mass arrest. 20% of respondents say their subcontractors have lost employees too. The most affected states are those of Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, Nebraska and South Carolina. The complication derived from the ICE action has also been certified by the Federal Reserve. Last week the monetary authority published its latest regional economic conditions, the so -called Beige book, and it refers more than a dozen times to the problems that the antimigration action is creating in the labor market in the twelve districts of the Fed. and San Francisco highlighting its impact on the construction industry, ”reads the report. Specifically, in the case of the Federal Reserve of New York it is pointed out that the fall of immigrant workers has resulted in project delays. Solutions are being sought. “Some employers are choosing to offer weeks of four working days to retain workers.” «AND [las constructoras] They are not optimistic with respect to a greater possibility of labor in the future ”, reads in the beige book. The lack of immigrant labor not only does not open the doors to national workers in the sector, but affects these workers negatively. Ben Zipperer, economist of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a center of progressive cutting studies, explains in a recent report on the employment in the construction and in the child They also affect national workers in several ways. Transversal to several sectors. Contracorriente, in the construction sector they grew. One year. referred to people who leave their job because they have a better possibility. qualified workers to hire.