Thursday, October 15, 2015 10:04 AM
WASHINGTON, D.C. –Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) Construction Confidence Index (CCI) survey indicates that contractor confidence will continue to edge higher in the first half of 2015. The diffusion index measures forward-looking construction industry expectations in sales, profit margins and staffing levels with readings above 50 indicating growth.
Read the rest of entry »
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 11:11 AM
Prices for inputs to construction industries plunged 1.6 percent in September after shedding 0.9 percent in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Year-over-year prices were down 5.3 percent for the month, the largest yearly decrease since October of 2009. Inputs to nonresidential construction prices also declined, losing 1.6 percent for the month and 6 percent for the year. Only three of the 11 key input prices expanded on a monthly basis in September, while six experienced double-digit year-over-year declines, according to analysis by Associated Builders and Contractors.
Read the rest of entry »
Tuesday, October 13, 2015 9:47 AM
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is celebrating Careers in Construction
Month this October by recognizing the investment its members and chapters make each year to attract and train the construction workers of the future. ABC member firms spend $1.1 billion on workforce development and train approximately 476,000 construction industry professionals annually.
Read the rest of entry »
Friday, October 2, 2015 11:11 AM
U.S. construction industry employment edged higher in September despite a disappointing jobs report for the overall U.S. economy. The number of construction jobs expanded by 8,000 on a net basis in September, with nonresidential builders and specialty trade contractors collectively creating 6,800 of those net new jobs. The number of jobs in the heavy and civil engineering category declined by 2,200, however.
Read the rest of entry »
Thursday, October 1, 2015 11:55 AM
August marked the seventh consecutive month nonresidential construction spending expanded according to an Oct. 1 release supplied by the U.S. Census Bureau. Nonresidential spending totaled $696.3 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis in August, a 0.3 percent increase from the previous month and a 12.3 percent increase from the same time last year. The Census Bureau downwardly revised July’s estimate from $696.1 billion to $694.1 billion.
Read the rest of entry »
Wednesday, September 30, 2015 9:00 AM
Nationally, the construction employment picture has continued to improve from last year. The not seasonally adjusted (NSA) construction unemployment rates for the country and 45 states were down in August on a year-over-year basis. For the first eight months of the year, construction added 113,000 seasonally adjusted (SA) jobs. At the same time, NSA jobs increased by 221,000 from August 2014 to August 2015.
Read the rest of entry »
Thursday, September 24, 2015 10:14 AM
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) announced the first 10 winners of the Build Your Future Scholarship through ABC’s Trimmer Construction Education Foundation (TCEF). The scholarships are awarded to the top 10 students attending an NCCER-accredited program or a state/federally approved apprenticeship program in a merit-shop training facility. The scholarships are funded through a pledge of $100,000 from NCCER over the next five years.
Read the rest of entry »
Friday, September 18, 2015 11:23 AM
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and ABC’s Inland Pacific Chapter today celebrated a victory when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit set aside a lower court’s decision against an Idaho law that banned government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on taxpayer-funded construction projects.
Read the rest of entry »
Friday, September 11, 2015 12:06 PM
Prices for inputs to the construction industry fell 0.9 percent in August after shedding 0.1 percent in July. Inputs to nonresidential construction behaved similarly, losing 0.8 percent for the month and 4.7 percent for the year.
Read the rest of entry »
Wednesday, September 9, 2015 9:00 AM
Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) expanded by 1 percent to 8.5 months during the 2nd quarter of 2015. Backlog declined 3 percent during the 1st quarter, which was punctuated by harsh winter weather and the lingering effects of the West Coast ports slowdown. CBI stands roughly where it did a year ago, indicative of an ongoing recovery in the nation’s nonresidential construction industry.
Read the rest of entry »