WASHINGTON, Feb. 28—Today, Associated Builders and Contractors and a coalition of 19 associations and organizations representing the construction industry and business community sent a letter to Congress expressing support for the Fair and Open Competition Act (S. 403/H.R. 1284), sponsored by Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C, and strong opposition to government-mandated project labor agreements.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23—The construction industry will need to attract nearly 650,000 additional workers on top of the normal pace of hiring in 2022 to meet the demand for labor, according to a model developed by Associated Builders and Contractors.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16—On Feb. 15, Associated Builders and Contractors and 15 associations and organizations representing tens of thousands of companies and millions of employees in the construction industry sent a letter to the White House highlighting concerns with President Joe Biden’s efforts to require controversial government-mandated project labor agreements on federal and federally assisted construction contracts.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15—Construction input prices rose 3.5% in January compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices increased 3.1% for the month.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15—Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator declined to 8.0 months in January, according to an ABC member survey conducted Jan. 20 to Feb. 4. The reading is down 0.2 months from December 2021, but up 0.5 months from January 2021.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7—Associated Builders and Contractors today released the following statement in response to the Biden administration’s White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment report on how to boost union membership in the federal government and public and private sectors.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9—Associated Builders and Contractors today announced it has hired Joseph Xavier, a safety and workforce expert with more than 30 years of experience, as its senior director of health and safety. Xavier will lead and contribute to the development and deployment of the overall health, safety and environment strategy for the association, its 69 chapters and its more than 21,000 member companies.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4—The construction industry lost 5,000 jobs on net in January, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall, the industry has recovered slightly more than 1 million (91%) of the jobs lost during earlier stages of the pandemic.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3—Associated Builders and Contractors today blasted President Biden’s executive order, which encourages the use of controversial project labor agreement mandates on federal construction projects that are funded by taxpayers.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7—The not seasonally adjusted national construction unemployment rate plunged 4.6% in December 2021 from a year ago, down from 9.6% to 5%, while all 50 states had lower unemployment rates over the same period, according to a state-by-state analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released today by Associated Builders and Contractors. This substantial improvement occurred even as the omicron COVID-19 variant was sweeping the nation.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1—National nonresidential construction spending fell 0.7% in December 2021, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $820.7 billion for the month.