From lumber to labor, are we now in a ‘shortage economy’?

The economic trend of recent decades has been abundance for U.S. consumers, built on globalization and supply-chain automation. For now, the story is looking very different, as shortages emerge for key products.

Sitting in a chair in a lower-level conference room in Hyannis, Massachusetts, Hamilton “Tony” Shepley tries to describe the controlled chaos taking place upstairs in his building supply company, Shepley Wood Products.

“What comes after manic?” he asks. Business is booming, but lumber prices have tripled in a little over a year. Asphalt and wood shingles are in...