What you say is true, but consider this. Isn't it a fact that because of the disaster from Katrina it is difficult to find housing there? I know construction people working down there--chiefly electricians, and they are making considerably more than 20.00 an hour. Also being furnished trailers to live in. I doubt if the unskilled are being offered that. If they have to find a place on their own and pay for it, 13.00 to 20.00 an hour would hardly be a living wage. Places to live are still at a premium.
On the subject of imports, I wonder how many of the casino workers are illegals. They have a huge foreign workforce.I'm wondering if the casino influence is making Haley keep a low profile on illegals. MS gets a lot of revenue from the casinos, and the ones in Vicksburg and near Memphis did not get hit. They just keep rolling along, like the old muddy Mississippi.
vaudine
Skilled labor is getting a premium on the coast. As far as housing, yes, there is the rub. These contractors are buying their own mobile units, not FEMA, and they are half full. That’s for skilled and unskilled. FEMA is also supplying trailers for laborers as well.
I have a buddy with a major contractor rebuild or building apartment complexes from Alabama to Louisiana. Materials are not the problem as it once was, he has enough to complete 4 project sitting right now. They are working on just two due to lack of workers. He has the resources to house twice the force he has. He won’t say how many imports there are, but its more than a few.