Related Links: Bureau of Labor Statistics release, including data tables AGC economist Ken Simonson's analysis ABC economist Anirban Basu's analysis Construction’s unemployment rate fell in November to 13.1% from October’s 13.7%. though the industry lost 12,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The latest BLS monthly employment snapshot, released on Dec. 2, also indicated that construction’s November jobless rate was much better than November 2010’s rate of 18.8%. It also was the lowest monthly rate since November 2008, when the figure was 12.7%.Although the rate shows improvement, Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America chief economist, said
Related Links: NGA-NASBO Fall 2011 Fiscal Survey of States States’ fiscal pictures continue to show slow improvement, but still haven’t rebounded to where they were before the recession struck, a new survey says.The National Governors Association (NGA) and National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) latest Fiscal Survey of States, released on Nov. 29, reports that states’ projected general-fund revenue collections are up for the second-straight year, rising 1.6% for fiscal 2012, to $659.4 billion.But that still leaves states’ cumulative revenue $20.8 billion below the 2008 total.Scott Pattison, NASBO executive director, said in a conference call for reporters the biannual
The inability of the congressional "supercommittee" to agree on a deficit-reduction plan will trigger $1.2 trillion in mandatory across-the-board spending cuts over the next 10 years. The cutbacks, which start in January 2013, will be split between defense and non-defense categories. Also, federal construction programs' budgets will not be spared.Jeffrey Shoaf, Associated General Contractors of America senior executive director for government affairs, says, "The failure to get an agreement adds more uncertainty for our industry, [which] is still suffering with double-digit unemployment. And we can scarcely afford more uncertainty."The Budget Control Act, signed into law on Aug. 2, created the
The good news: Dept. of Transportation construction accounts are among the few federal programs with funding locked in for the rest of fiscal year 2012.The bad news: Most of those accounts were trimmed or, in the case of high-speed passenger rail, zeroed out. The major exception was mass transit, which got a $447-million boost, including a $358-million hike for the account that funds new transit-line starts.DOT's FY12 numbers are part of a spending bill enacted on Nov. 18 that also funds the Agriculture, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development departments. The package also has a continuing resolution to keep all the
A special congressional committee charged with finding a way to trim the federal deficit by at least $1.2 trillion over the next decade, has conceded that it cannot agree on a plan to reach that goal.That acknowledgment will trigger $1.2 trillion in mandatory across-the-board cuts starting in January 2013, half from defense and half from nondefense categories, including construction programs—unless Congress passes a new law to modify or abolish them.President Obama called on Congress to come up with a "balanced plan"--presumably including some tax increases--to narrow the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion, but vowed to veto legislation that would
Related Links: House Appropriations Committee summary of spending package Federal transportation construction programs have their fiscal 2012 funding locked in, thanks to a newly enacted appropriations package. Highway funding and TIGER grants were sliced, high-speed rail was zeroed out, but aid for mass transit got a boost. The legislation, which President Obama signed into law on Nov. 18, the day after the measure had cleared the House and Senate, provides $128.1 billion in discretionary funds for the Depts. of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, Justice and Agriculture. The bill’s total represents a $500-million cut from those departments’
Action is heating up in Congress on transportation spending bills, both for 2012 and the long-delayed multiyear highway-transit measure. However, it is still up in the air how much money Congress will approve.House and Senate negotiations formally began on Nov. 3 on a fiscal 2012 appropriations package for the Depts. of Transportation, Commerce, Justice, Agriculture, and Housing and Urban Development. Construction officials like the Senate's numbers for key DOT programs, including a $41.1-billion highway obligation limit, the same as 2011's; $10.6 billion for mass transit, up 6% from 2011; $550 million for TIGER grants for select projects, up 4%; and
Courtesy of U.S. Senate Photo Studio Senate committee Chairman Boxer (R) and Republicans Inhofe (center) and David Vitter worked out bipartisan agreement on new, two-year highway authorization Courtesy of U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Large crowd looked on as Senate panel voted 18-0 to approve highway bill Related Links: Summary of committee bill Text of bill (excludes amendments approved at Nov. 9 committee markup) The two-year-long quest for a multi-year surface transportation bill still goes on, but it has taken a step forward with the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s approval on Nov. 9 of a two-year,
Related Links: Interior Dept. fact sheet on proposal The Interior Dept. has proposed 15 lease sales for offshore oil and gas drilling over the 2012-17 period, including 12 potential leases at locations in the Gulf of Mexico and three off the coast of Alaska.Expanded energy exploration could provide opportunities for engineering and construction companies, both at offshore sites and at nearby, on-shore locations.The proposal, which Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced on Nov. 8, drew criticism from advocates and opponents of expanded oil and gas development.Drilling advocates, such as House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), faulted the Interior for
Construction industry groups cheered the House's Oct. 27 approval of legislation to repeal a mandate that government agencies withhold 3% of contract dollars from companies doing that work. But their focus quickly turned to the Senate, where they hope lawmakers will agree to the House measure and send it to the White House to be signed. A majority of the Senate recently voted for a different withholding-repeal bill, handicapping the prospects there for the House-approved measure.The House's strong 405-16 vote for the repeal bill has given the industry a lift. Geoff Burr, Associated Builders and Contractors vice president of federal
