County jobless rate remains at 12-year low
Rate 3.3% in April, May; construction industry desperate for workers.
Mike Fage has openings for 15 plumbers. Don Cortez could hire three electricians immediately.
In a Palm Beach County labor market characterized by rock-bottom unemployment rates, employers like Fage and Cortez can only shake their heads at the lack of workers.
“It’s been very difficult to find qualified people,” said Cortez, service manager at Cardinal Electric in West Palm Beach. “There’s more work than there is people right now.”
Underscoring that reality, state economists said Friday that Palm Beach County’s jobless rate stood at 3.3 percent in May. That was unchanged from April, when unemployment fell to a 12-year low.
Demand for workers is especially intense in the fast-rebounding construction industry. Construction employers added 3,000 jobs in Palm Beach County from April to May, making the building sector the county’s most robust source of job creation. Homebuilding is ramping up at the Westlake and Arden developments in western Palm Beach County, and workers
are toiling at projects such as the Southern Boulevard bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway.
Cardinal Electric pays licensed journeymen up to $50,000, plus benefits and vacation, Cortez said. At Fage’s company, Ridgeway Plumbing of Boynton Beach, plumbers make more than $20 an hour.
Fage acknowledges that the work isn’t easy. Taking a job with Ridgeway Plumbing means connecting water and sewer lines at new houses at Westlake and Arden. With no air conditioning, workers toil in sweltering conditions even when they’re inside.
“It’s hot — there’s no doubt about it,” Fage said. “It’s like a sauna.”
Fage said his plumbers typically bring three or four shirts to work and change frequently.
The shortage of construction workers is a nationwide trend, said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic, a real estate information firm based in Irvine, California.
“The job-openings rate in construction is at the highest level we’ve seen in the last 18 years,” Nothaft said.
In a continuing paradox, Palm Beach County’s job creation remains nearly flat. The number of jobs in Palm Beach County increased by just 700 positions compared to May 2017, a climb of only 0.1 percent.
Robust growth in the construction sector (up 3,000 jobs) and finance (up 1,800 jobs) was offset by declines in information (down 500 jobs), trade, transportation and utilities (down 600 jobs), professional and business services (down 1,800 jobs) and education and health services (down 4,000 jobs).
Friday’s reports showed employers advertising 20,654 open jobs in the county in May. There were just 23,707 workers counted as officially unemployed.
“If you’re looking for a job, the current market is about as good as it gets,” said Steve Craig, president and chief executive of the nonprofit CareerSource Palm Beach County.
The county’s unemployment rate has been at or below or 4 percent for eight months in a row.
Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent, matching the national average. And the statewide job market posted a healthy growth rate of 2.2 percent.
Palm Beach County’s weak job growth was unusual among Florida’s large counties. The Orlando metro area posted 3.5 percent growth, while Jacksonville’s job market expanded by 3.2 percent over the past year.