The construction industry has continued to add jobs this year as commercial work has filled a void left by a drop of more than one-third in single-family housing permits from last year.

Commercial construction is "almost insatiable because of the necessity for certain skills and the variety of construction jobs – from highway to high rise," said Laurie Bouillion Larrea, president of WorkforceSolutions Greater Dallas.

In Dallas-Fort Worth, 20.6 million square feet – picture nearly nine NorthPark Centers – of industrial and office space is under construction.

The result is that some companies are having a hard time finding workers – from equipment operators to project managers. Median construction hourly wages include $18.84 for an electrician to $38.62 for a construction manager.

"There's been a struggle to ramp up for large projects," said Dan Busch, president of Dallas-based Constructors & Associates. The company has shifted to longer hours and work weeks and is recruiting from other industries, he said.

Dallas-based Beck Group has hired more than 40 employees this year, but it still has turned down work because it doesn't have enough people, said human resources director Joe Flores. It's having the most trouble finding experienced project managers, he said.

In June, Beck hired Preston Hodges, a recent college graduate with a year's experience as an intern at another construction company, as a project engineer. He works closely with structural subcontractors installing rebar, concrete, plumbing and electrical systems for a 221-room Westin Hotel and event center in McKinney.

Such specialty trade jobs also are in strong demand.

"There's a lot of work," said Fidel Leal, a foreman for Great Western Erectors, which installs reinforced steel.

Some real estate leasing has been sluggish, and there's concern that construction job growth could slow further as the building backlog fades.

"In 2008, we have seen a slowdown in nonresidential activity, and I would expect things to continue to slow as the credit markets make it more difficult to get deals done," said D'Ann Petersen, a business economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. "We could see some job losses in the construction industry."