Oil bust helps Florida contractors

The sudden collapse of oil prices has done more than cut fuel costs: It's also helping to reduce Florida's labor shortage in the construction trades.

That's good news for Florida contractors who don't want to miss out on work because of a lack of qualified employees. When the real estate recession hit Florida in the last decade, construction workers left the state in droves. They headed to places like the oil fields of North Dakota and Texas in search of work.

But with the recent steep drop in oil prices, some drilling companies have laid off those workers. Many of them are packing up and heading back to Florida, to get in on the construction industry recovery.