PITTSBURGH, Sept. 23—Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Pennsylvania today filed a lawsuit to stop Westmoreland County from requiring its contractors to execute a project labor agreement with the Pittsburgh Regional Building Trades Council as a condition of winning certain taxpayer-funded public works construction contracts. In addition, the county is requiring contractors to fire any worker on a PLA project who does not join a union affiliated with the Pittsburgh Regional Building Trades Council within eight days of employment, including union workers belonging to a union not represented by the council.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19—U.S. construction industry leaders’ confidence diminished somewhat in July 2019, yet they remain optimistic regarding nonresidential construction’s near-term prospects, according to the Construction Confidence Index released today by Associated Builders and Contractors.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17—Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator fell to 8.5 months in July 2019, down 0.3 months or 2.9% from June 2019 when CBI stood at 8.8 months.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11—Construction input prices fell 0.6% in August and are down 0.9% year-over-year, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices fell 0.4% for the month and are down 0.4% compared to August 2018.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6—The construction industry added 14,000 net new jobs in August, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has expanded by 177,000 jobs, or 2.4%. 

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3— According to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data published today, national nonresidential construction spending declined 0.3% in July, totaling $776 billion on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, and a 0.1% increase compared to July 2018. The June 2019 estimates were revised upward from $773.8 billion to $778.5 billion.