On the other hand, construction and entry-level retail workers remain in short supply in some places. Skilled labor has also been hard to find in the booming energy-producing areas of the district. Overall wage pressures continued to ease, and many companies have put wage and benefit increases on hold. Retail prices held steady in March, and some retailers expect a slight decline in prices in coming months. Prices for manufacturing materials continued to rise, due largely to transport cost increases.
Most purchasing managers expect material prices to stabilize during the summer.
Building material prices remained largely unchanged.