WASHINGTON, Oct. 27—The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.6% annualized rate in the third quarter of 2022, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Investment in nonresidential structures decreased at an annual rate of 15.3% for the quarter and has now contracted in 10 of the past 12 quarters.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3—The not seasonally adjusted national construction unemployment rate dropped 1.1% in September 2022 from a year ago, down from 4.5% to 3.4%, according to a state-by-state analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released today by Associated Builders and Contractors. Forty-two states had lower unemployment rates over the same period, Arkansas and Wisconsin were unchanged and six states were higher. Almost half of the states had estimated construction unemployment rates at or below 3%.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19—Associated Builders and Contractors has submitted more than 40 pages of comments to the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council calling on the Biden administration to withdraw a controversial proposed rule that would require anti-competitive and inflationary project labor agreements on federal construction contracts of $35 million or more.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12—Construction input prices dipped 0.1% in September compared to the previous month, 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 also fell 0.1% for the month.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11—Associated Builders and Contractors today responded to the U.S. Department of Labor’s announcement of a proposed rule to rescind and replace a commonsense, ABC-supported final regulation on independent contractors.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7—The construction industry added 19,000 jobs on net in September, 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 risen by 292,000 jobs, or 3.9%. 

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11—Associated Builders and Contractors reports today that its Construction Backlog Indicator increased to 9.0 months in September, according to an ABC member survey conducted Sept. 20 to Oct. 5. The reading is 1.4 months higher than in September 2021.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4—The construction industry had 407,000 job openings in August, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. JOLTS defines a job opening as any unfilled position for which an employer is actively recruiting. Industry job openings increased by 54,000 last month and are up by 45,000 from the same time last year.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3—National nonresidential construction spending was down 0.4% in August, 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 $859.3 billion for the month.