The latest employment statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released August 3, showed a slight increase in jobs overall, but also an increase in the unemployment rate.Total non-farm payroll employment edged up by 163,000 jobs in July, but the unemployment rate ticked up slightly, from 8.217% in June to 8.254% in July.Alan Krueger, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said in a statement that the report provides further evidence “that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression.”But those numbers are giving the construction industry little to cheer about. Construction employment
Related Links: Continuing Resolution Likely Fiscal 2013 Looks Rough For Construction Spending Senate and House leaders announced on July 31 that they had reached a deal with the White House to pass a continuing resolution (CR) in September to keep the government running through March 2013.The funding will adhere to the $1.047-trillion cap mandated by last year’s Budget Control Act, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). The House had wanted to pare the cap down to $1.028 trillion, which would have led to deeper cuts in construction and other programs.Congress has been slow in approving the various spending bills
Related Links: July 30 SIGAR audit report A new report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, has criticized the U.S. rebuilding effort in Afghanistan, saying most of the infrastructure projects funded for that country in fiscal year 2011 are behind schedule and don't include adequate measures to ensure the projects can continue and stay in place for the long term.The special IG, John F. Sopko, wrote in the July 30 report, “More than 10 years after international intervention in Afghanistan—and nearly nine years since the U.S. government began focusing efforts to build Afghanistan’s infrastructure—the U.S. government,
Related Links: FHWA Buy America Q&A The newly enacted MAP-21 transportation bill has provisions that their advocates say will fortify "Buy America" requirements for highway and transit projects. But those policy changes drew criticism from a leading Canadian industry official.The highway title of the statute, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, has one key "Buy America" change: It states that if a road or bridge project is split into multiple contracts and at least one of those contracts receives federal funding, all contracts on that project must abide by "Buy America" mandates.The underlying requirement for federal-aid
Related Links: U.S., Canada Extend Lumber Trade Pact U.S-Canada Lumber Pact Goes Into Effect An arbitration court has ruled in Canada's favor and against the U.S. in a case dealing with British Columbia's timber pricing.In a July 18 decision, a London Court of International Arbitration tribunal found the pricing did not violate the 2006 U.S.-Canada Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA), officials from both countries said.Ed Fast, Canada's minister of international trade, called the ruling good news for British Columbia forestry workers. Canada argued that a beetle infestation was the main reason for a low price rating on a large volume of
Related Links: Link to text of Senate Finance Committee-approved bill Senate Bill Seeks Expanded Exports to Russia (ENR 6/25/12) Trade legislation that is expected to boost U.S. exports to Russia, including shipments of construction equipment, is moving swiftly toward passage in Congress.The Senate Finance Committee on July 18 unanimously cleared a bill to establish permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with Russia. That move would make the U.S. eligible for Russian tariff cuts and other benefits when Russia joins the World Trade Organization (WTO). The bill, which has provisions to improve Russia's human-rights record, next goes to the Senate floor.Action is
Related Links: MAP-21 Transportation Measure Goes on the Books PDF of MAP-21 legislation As construction officials dig deeper into the many sections and subsections of the new transportation law, they see a variety of detailed provisions that they like and some disappointing omissions.The Design-Build Institute of America and the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) point to a provision in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) allowing up to 100% federal funding for projects using innovative delivery methods. This includes design-build and construction manager-general contractor procurement and innovative equipment, materials or techniques, such as prefabricated bridge
Related Links: Release announcing National Resilience Coalition PDF of 2009 DHS National Infrastructure Advisory Council report on critical infrastructure resilience Eighteen organizations, including design and emergency-preparedness groups, have launched an effort to make U.S. infrastructure better able to anticipate, withstand and quickly recover from major disruptions from natural disasters, terrorist acts and other threats.The National Resilience Coalition's co-founders are The Infrastructure Security Partnership, the Security Analysis and Risk Management Association, and the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Related Links: Fiscal Year 2013 Looks Rough for Construction Spending (ENR 6/4/12) Federal Construction Funding Is Growing Tighter (ENR 3/26/12) With fiscal year 2013 appropriations bills on a slow pace in Congress, few, if any, of the 12 measures that fund various federal agencies are expected to be enacted by Oct. 1, when the new fiscal year begins. That means Congress will turn again to a continuing resolution (CR). "Otherwise, the government shuts down," says Jeffrey Shoaf, Associated General Contractors senior executive director for government affairs. "No one wants that four weeks before the election." That CR could extend past
For the second time in 18 months, the House has passed a bill to repeal the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, whose provisions have begun to revamp the U.S. health-care system.