The construction workforce, estimated at roughly 33,000 before Hurricane Maria, will need to double to keep up with demand to rebuild roads, houses and other infrastructure damaged in last year’s storm season, said Emilio Colon-Zavala, president of the Puerto Rico Builders Association, the Wall Street Journal reported. Cement sales, a proxy for construction activity, increased for eight months straight after Hurricane Maria to 33 percent above pre-storm levels. Puerto Rico’s building industry is booming, fueled by federal disaster-relief dollars and insurance proceeds together projected to total $82 billion over time. The influx has turned construction into a bright spot for an island economy racked by population loss, a declining manufacturing base and the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Since the hurricane, federal agencies have obligated $4.8 billion for recovery work in Puerto Rico through last August, according to the Center for a New Economy, a San Juan-based think tank. While financial planners don’t know the exact scale of federal assistance over the next decade, the U.S. government has made some firm commitments already, including an $18.5 billion grant for rebuilding housing stock and other infrastructure. Meantime, the construction industry is reckoning with rising costs. Not only have wages increased, but material costs have risen since the Trump administration imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada, Mexico and the European Union and on Chinese products like home appliances, electrical equipment and other materials critical to Puerto Rico’s rebuilding efforts.
