The latest data reveals that worker pay has hit the highest level of increase in a decade.
What does that mean for factories, and manufactured home sellers? The Daily Business News will take a look…
Business media on both sides of the left-right political divide are saying surprisingly similar things. Namely, that income is increasing at the highest rate since 2008, per CNBC and Fox Business.
Citing Bureau of Labor Statistics release Tuesday, the employment cost index increased 0.6 percent for civilian workers in the three-month period ending in June.
“Meanwhile, private workers fared better than the public sector. Total compensation in the private industry rose 2.9%, while government workers saw a 2.3% increase,” per Fox Business.
It should be noted that one of the effects of the Trump Administration’s policies have been a slowly shirking federal workforce. “The federal government cut 3000 jobs in May and federal employment has now dropped by 24000 since President Donald Trump took office,” per CNS News, which cited Bureau of Labor Statistics data in June.
HUD Code and other Factories Are Competing for Workers
An under-told story is how producers of manufactured housing are fighting for labor. That battle for skilled tradesman – and management – sometimes takes place with other HUD Code or modular producers. Other competition occurs with RV makers, and other types of construction and factory workers.
An interesting note from the Skyline Champion report earlier today is that they have 7 idle plants. Per a management source with Champion, they have one or more plants they want to open. The challenge?
Labor.
The Takeaway for Home Sellers
Those who sell at retail – or lease manufactured homes to the public – are seeing wage growth in their applicants, which can make it easier to get them qualified.
For some sellers, the challenge isn’t always lending, its product.
There are retailers that tell MHProNews that they’d switch suppliers, if they could just get more quality product faster.
Publicly traded firms have reported for years in statements to shareholders that employment drives more sales. Of course, that’s true. But it also means that more money could be available for down payments, or to do other things that help qualify a customer for financing.
Rising pay, while a challenge for those seeking workers, is an issue. But the net impact on the economy and the industry is arguably overall favorable. More people working puts less pressure of public entitlement programs. That can, over time, reduce public deficits and debts.
Debate the style of the President Donald J. Trump? Perhaps. But it is hard to argue with the results. Watch for plenty of workers at his rally tonight at 7 PM in Tampa, FL, and at other stops along the road to the 2018 midterms. There’s more on workers in a related report, linked below. “That’s News Through the Lens of Manufactured Homes, and Factory Built Housing.” ©. ##(News, analysis, and commentary.)
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Related Reports:
State of the American Workplace Report, Plus Manufactured Housing Market Updates
