Dive summary:

• The good news is that the construction industry put 7,000 more people on payrolls last month, underpinning the belief in a recovery. The bad news is that puts builders and contractors 7,000 closer to the point where they run out of people to build that recovery.
• Increases in employment by residential builders, nonresidential contractors and heavy and civil engineering companies and architectural and engineering services companies meant 5.8 million people were at work in the industry, which was 3.4% more than in May 2012.
• Associated General Contractors, which analyzed federal data to find the unemployment rate among people who once worked in construction was down to 10.8%, said there is still time to avoid worker shortages if training programs come online soon.

From the article:

“At the same time, formerly unemployed construction workers are finding jobs in other sectors, retiring or going back to school. These conditions may lead abruptly to worker shortages in parts of the industry, such as welders and pipefitters.” ...