The four largest industry categories, which combined account for three-fourths of all public construction, all logged declines in April, according to ABC. While construction of transportation facilities fell by 3.8%, educational construction dropped by 2.7%, sewage and waste disposal fell by 2.5% and highway and street construction dropped by 1.6%.

“Public construction will continue to decline for years, with losses coming from all levels of government,” says Simonson.

AGC and other industry groups continue to lobby Congress for long-term infrastructure funding bills for transportation, wastewater and drinking water, as well as for “a tax and regulatory environment that encourages private investment,” but the signs to date aren't promising.

While the House recently voted to extend the Highway Trust Fund, prospects for a funding extension beyond fiscal 2011 remain unclear. Ditto the Airport Trust Fund. “October 1st may seem a long way off, but I'm afraid it will be upon us before we've reached an agreement,” says Simonson.

States continue to refill their coffers, but not to the levels they achieved prior to the 2008 recession. Rather than funding more construction, many are increasing their contributions to pension and unemployment funds, says Simonson.

One exception is Illinois, where a $31-billion infrastructure improvement program named Illinois Jobs Now, a multiyear initiative intended to generate 50,000 jobs, is under way. The package includes $14.3 billion for roads and bridges, $7 billion for other transportation projects like high-speed rail, $3.6 billion for primary education—most of it for school construction—and $1.5 billion for higher education.

With more than $1.5 billion in highway projects under construction, including ongoing work on a highway extension between Evansville and Indianapolis, Indiana also is launching its largest road construction season in several years, according to the Indiana Dept. of Transportation.

Funds have been comparatively scarce in Missouri, prompting the state's transportation department to announce in June that it will eliminate 1,200 jobs and close 131 facilities in order to raise funds for road and bridge projects. The cuts are expected to save the state more than $500 million by 2015 and $117 million per year after that.

Municipal construction, meantime, remains closely tied to local housing markets. “As long as property values remain depressed, so do the tax revenues required to build schools, parks and infrastructure projects,” says Basu.

Although May marked the fourth consecutive month of rising home sales in Illinois, values have not been as quick to rebound. The story is much the same in Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin.

More widespread recovery—and a commensurate uptick in construction spending—will depend on whether the economy improves once food and fuel prices stabilize, says Basu.

“The thinking is that the broader economy will improve in late 2011,” he says. If we can get relief from the price of construction materials and the economy can find its own momentum, projects will begin to come on line and start arriving in the hands of contractors in late 2012.”