The data summarized here indicate that productivity in the US construction industry–both labor productivity and total factor productivity–has been much weaker than productivity for the US economy in general. Indeed, productivity seems to have gotten worse:
To be clear, the raw BEA data suggest that the sector has become less productive over time. A lot less productive: value added per worker in the sector was about 40 percent lower in 2020 than it was in 1970.
Full paper here.
Your thoughts…
Do these findings seem correct?
If so, what are the causes of the poor and declining productivity?
What are the paths to improvement?