Unemployment Still Shrinking The construction industry's jobless rate continues to decline, dipping to 8.6% in May from April's 9.4%, as the industry added 6,000 jobs. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest employment report, released on June 6, also showed that construction's jobless rate last month improved from its May 2013 level of 10.8%. Moreover, last month's rate was the best May since 2008, when it also was 8.6%. The industry's jobs results were mixed among its various sectors. The strongest segments were heavy-civil engineering construction and residential specialty-trade contractors, which each picked up 3,200 positions. The weakest were non-residential
Related Links: Bureau of Labor statistics release, with data tables AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's comments, analysis ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu's comments, analysis Construction industry’s jobless rate continues to decline, dipping to 8.6% in May from 9.4% the previous month, as the industry added 6,000 jobs.The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics latest employment report, released on June 6, also showed that construction’s jobless rate last month improved from its May 2013 level of 10.8%.Moreover, last month’s rate was the best May since 2008, when it also was 8.6%. The BLS rates are not adjusted for seasonal variations.The industry’s jobs results
Photo Courtesy of Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon's year-old innovation institute links engineering, design and business. Related Links: Carnegie Mellon University Integrated Innovation Institute Website CMU Integrated Innovation Institute's MSA Bypass Shuttle website Video Demonstration of MSA's Bypass Shuttle LUV Portable Water Purification Project Video Applying its own innovative thinking, Carnegie Mellon University decided last year to unite graduate programs in engineering, fine arts design and business in what it calls "an unprecedented market-focused center designed to speed the pace of innovation."As it passes its first anniversary, the Pittsburgh school's Integrated Innovation Institute offers or plans to offer degree programs
Joe Martosella, the senior vice president and general counsel for Philadelphia-based general contractor Buckley & Co., says his company’s workers’ compensation insurer paid out “three very serious claims” that cost the insurer $5.5 million total over the past year.What was unusual was that the claims were made against Buckley & Co. by employees of subcontractors who should have been carrying workers’ compensation coverage of their own. In most states, workers’ compensation statutes require employers to have insurance to pay wages or medical costs of injured employees. In exchange, the laws generally prevent employees from making claims of negligence against legally
Joe Martosella, the senior vice president and general counsel for Philadelphia-based contractor Buckley & Co., says his company’s workers’ compensation insurer paid out “three very serious claims” that cost the insurer $5.5 million over the past year.What was unusual was that the claims were made against Buckley & Co. by employees of subcontractors who should have been carrying workers’ compensation coverage of their own. In most states, workers’ compensation statutes require employers to have insurance to pay wages or medical costs of injured employees. In exchange, the laws generally prevent employees from making claims of negligence against legally defined employers.That’s
Related Links: Alberta Vows To Speed Up Oil-Sands Road Project Boomlet Prompts Oil Shipper's Plan To Increase Its Capacity Alberta Ministry of Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour Horizon Oil Sands Alberta labor officials are set to incorporate into law recommendations of a report commissioned from an Edmonton lawyer meant to improve craft workforce labor relations and "stability" in the province's growing construction workforce.Changes are most acute at large power and industrial project jobsites. But nonunion sector officials say the changes fail to acknowledge contract negotiations that occur outside of unions.Attorney Andrew Sims' report said collective bargaining between employers and unions
Related Links: As Global Construction Race Heats Up, So Do Challenges of Managing Risk, Workforce and Project Finance, ENR Summit Experts Say Industry Learning Goes Borderless ENR: Design Firms Eke Out Profit Even as Global Markets Gyrate EFCG Website As industry firms balance management of global talent and bottom-line costs, human resource managers are gaining more visibility in design and construction executive suites, along with their growing workforce challenges.According to a new survey and a May 15 gathering in New York City of industry HR professionals, managers are seeking new strategies to cope with everything from compensation for CEOs to
Photos Courtesy of Uganda Ministry of Energy Sinohydro Corp., which in December launched civil works on the 600-MW project, said it urgently needs skilled personnel to ensure construction is completed by 2018. Related Links: Ugandan Government Removes Chinese Firm From Large Hydro Project China Daily: Power Giants Work on Local Touch The main contractor for the $2-billion Karuma hydropower project in Uganda says the project is facing an acute shortage of suitable electrical engineers and skilled labor to operate the machines.China’s Sinohydro Corp., which in December launched civil works on the 600-MW project, said it urgently needs the skilled personnel
photo courtesy of melina harris Australian tradeswomen are pushing to grow their ranks, which number only about 5,000 nationally. Related Links: Tradeswomen Inc. Website Union Tradeswomen Are Urged to 'Lean In' at Big Gathering Skilled Trades Are Tough To Crack; Women Fight To Gain Ground Concerned that retirements are cutting into their existing ranks even as they struggle to expand them, women in union craft careers convened in Sacramento last month to show solidarity and trade insights on coping with workplace challenges.The record turnout of 875 attendees at this year's "Women Building California and the Nation" conference also included union
Related Links: Bureau of Labor statistics release, with data tables AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's analysis and comments LIUNA General President Terry O'Sullivan's statement ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu's analysis and comments Construction's employment picture continues to brighten, as its April jobless rate fell to 9.4% from March’s 11.3% and its workforce expanded by 32,000 jobs.The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly employment report, released on May 2, also showed that construction’s unemployment rate last month was much better than its April 2013 level of 13.2%.April's construction-jobs growth spanned all industry sectors, led by buildings construction, which gained 11,000.The heavy
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