As America’s housing market struggles to recover, the latest problem it faces is a lack of skilled workers. Increasing numbers of contractors are unable to start new projects because of a lack of carpenters, according to Reuters.

Apparently there is such a shortage of carpenters that it sometimes takes “as much as two months longer than normal to complete a project” (Reuters, June 19). Over the first three months of this year, 48 percent of single-family home builders across the nation could not find framing crews, according to a recent National Association of Home Builders (nahb) survey. Materials have been sitting at job sites, but there has been no one to build. nahb chief economist David Crowe said, “The survey of our members shows that since June of 2012, residential construction firms are reporting an increasing number of shortages in all aspects of the industry—from carpenters, excavators, framers, roofers and plumbers, to bricklayers, hvac, building maintenance managers and weatherization workers.”

The lack of tradesmen may seem confusing considering that the construction sector still faces a 10.8 percent unemployment rate. One explanation is that people still see the construction field as too volatile, so many have left their trades for different jobs. “Industries like housing and durable goods manufacturing lay off people, then rehire as the economy picks up,” said John Hagen, ceo of Pasco Economic Development Council Inc. “Unfortunately, many of these people can’t wait and find employment in other industries, go back to school or start their own businesses. What happens then, especially in a protracted recession, is that shortages in skilled occupations start to emerge.”

Another factor that may skew these figures is the fact that the strength of the economy varies from region to region. Some regions where the economic growth is not as strong may experience higher unemployment rates than areas where there is a growing demand for houses.

But overall, this is a telling sign of the times we live in. In Isaiah 3:1-3, God describes how in the last days He would take away key individuals in society. One of those people is the “cunning artificer,” or the skilled craftsman, who is crucial to the economic stability of a nation. Without skilled craftsmen producing goods, an economy will struggle. To understand the implications of what a lack of skilled craftsmen and the decline of American production means, read “The Death of American Manufacturing.”