When those projects started, the builders, the developers could not find the labor force. And as the word got out it traveled fast, and so people started coming. As people started coming, they said, 'Hey, there's a lot of work here,' and so that's what sort of triggered it.

That's not unusual for the labor force to drop like that in January.

I would say the vast majority are not in a day labor-type scenario. Contractors and employers have a need for good workers, and once they find them they keep them.

We're really happy to have the Scouts doing projects, ... We generally supply all the material and they supply the labor. We ask them to build to our specifications. These are projects we wouldn't be able to do because of the lack of manpower. The Scouts can add amenities that finish things off nicely.

From July until the end of December was one of the highest periods ever of increases for transportation projects. Labor costs are not an issue here - it's raw materials.

It's a statewide battle. When businesses started to hire back, we see a corresponding increase in the labor force. It makes it hard to bring down the unemployment rate.