While Australia’s construction industry remains strong, high material prices and shortage of skilled labour is slowing its expansion. The Australian Industry Group/Housing Industry Association’s (HIA) construction performance index (pdf) fell further in June down to 55.5 points after hitting a record high in March. Despite the downward trend, a reading of above 50 points indicates the sector is still expanding. “Australia’s construction industry continued its run of strong growth in June, but the pace of expansion is slipping as it faces capacity constraints and rising input prices,” Ai Group Head of Policy Peter Burn said. While employment continued to grow in June, its pace slowed as employers struggled to find suitably skilled workers, pushing wages to grow above their average pace. A strong level of new orders also indicated further expansion in the months ahead. However, Burns warned of project delays being caused by current major material and labour issues. …