New construction has become the employment lifeline of South Florida, however, due to the economic slowdown, the plug has been pulled. It was bound to happen, as South Florida was extremely overbuilt during the housing boom a few years back.  However, with the enormous housing inventory, in order for the real estate market to revive itself; the inventory has to start declining.  The market needs to shed itself of the existing inventory, before we can start building new.

Even though the construction slow down is what the housing industry needs to survive, it's causing the unemployment rate to skyrocket.  The building industry employed hundreds of thousands of people in South Florida alone, and many have lost their jobs due to the crash. 

Many builders are going out of business, and although, it may seem that the loss of these businesses is a travesty, it could be seen as a positive transition in order to make room for new and upcoming trades.

The times they are a'changing, and when one door closes it allows for another to open. We as a nation need to roll with these changes and prepare ourselves for the new upcoming industries and not rely so heavily on the old ones.