Related Links: Bureau of Labor Statistics report for August, including data tables ABC economist Anirban Basu's analysis of BLS report AGC economist Ken Simonson's analysis of BLS report Construction’s August unemployment rate edged up from July’s level, but still was markedly improved from the August 2013 rate, as the industry added 20,000 jobs, the Labor Dept. has reported.The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest monthly employment status report, released on Sept. 5, showed that construction jobless rate rose to 7.7% in August, from July’s 7.5%, but was down from the year-earlier level of 9.1%.The rates aren’t adjusted for seasonal variations.BLS
Photo by Nadine M. Post/ENR Rift grows between owner and construction manager, after CM halted work on B2 BKLYN, at about one-third of its planned 32-story height, next to Barclays Center at the Pacific Park Brooklyn complex. Related Links: High-Rise Modular Construction Forces Major Adjustments Skanska USA Building Inc. Forest City Ratner Cos. Pacific Park Brooklyn The developer and the construction manager for the world's future tallest modular tower—under construction at the $4.9-billion Brooklyn, N.Y., development formerly known as Atlantic Yards—have sued each other over delays and cost overruns on the 32-story project, called B2 BKLYN.The suits, filed on Sept.
Related Links: New Minnesota Contractor Rules Put Squeeze on Worker Misclassifiers Link to Report: Sinking Underground-The Growing Informal Economy in California Construction California lost more than $774.9 million in state taxes, benefits and fees in 2011 due to construction worker misclassifications and undocumented activity, says a new study by a Los Angeles nonprofit research group that was underwritten by the carpenters' union.The report contends that 16% of California construction jobs—in a $152-billion industry that employed 895,000 people in 2012—was work done off-the-books in 2011, and it points to similar problems nationwide.The study by the Los Angeles-based Economic Roundtable states that
Related Links: Obama's Executive Order Invites Confusion Link to US Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee Report on Federal Contractor 2012 Worker Violations On its face, President Obama's July 31 executive order requiring federal contractors to list workplace-related violations when they submit bids and proposals is an attempt to keep persistent violators from continuing to win federal contracts.Why, the president asks, should violators earn checks from federal taxpayers if they won't treat their workers according to federal standards?According to the order, contracting officers and newly appointed agency "labor compliance advisors" would evaluate the violations to determine if a company
Related Links: Historic Resource Study: Includes Construction of Minidoka Camp BSU CM Minidoka Guard Tower project blog NPS Minidoka site Construction management students at Boise State University gained some real-world experience in completing a design-build project for the National Park Service at a former World War II Japanese-American internment camp that now is a national historic site in Jerome County, Idaho.The pleased owner now may rehire the team for other possible facility projects at the former Minidoka "relocation center," whose quickly built structures once held up to 12,000 mostly U.S. citizens from 1942 to 1945.The 33,000-acre camp, one of the
The Solar Industry Foundation, a business group, says there were 143,000 solar industry workers in the U.S. as of late 2013, and that the fastest growing category is installers, up 22% or 12,500 overall.Depending on the municipality and circumstances, California contractors use electricians or laborers for such installations.So it's not a surprise that competition for work would lead to arguments, which is what has happened at a private school's new campus in San Mateo, Calif. The dispute broke out even though the project general contractor, Devcon Construction Inc., Milpitas., had signed a project labor agreement with the San Mateo County
Related Links: Second URS Employee Links Firing To Nuclear Site Whistleblowing URS Corp. and its unit, Washington River Protection Solutions, have until Sept. 19 to address the U.S. Labor Dept's ruling of “reasonable cause” to believe the firms violated federal whistle-blower rules by wrongfully terminating an employee at the Hanford federal nuclear-waste cleanup site in Washington state who had filed a whistle-blower complaint.The agency on Aug. 19 said WRPS must rehire Shelly Doss, who was laid off in 2011 as an environmental specialist, and pay $220,000 in back wages and damages.In a statement, WRPS says it is reviewing the DOL
Related Links: Link to NSF survey site, Engineers Engaged in Creating Change, on what makes a great engineering workplace: Link to NSF site for men: General Engineering Attraction and Retention Study In what is billed as a “first of its kind” study of why the engineering workforce is shrinking, a team of University of Wisconsin academics released results of a study of more than 5,300 women practitioners that shows that nearly 40% who earned engineering degrees quit the profession or never entered the field, and that inadequate training and development and even hostility from peers and managers workplace are key
Source: CII Related Links: CII Research Graphic: Category Ratings for Late Deliverables Teams Drive Detailed Construction Planning Into the Design Phase Construction Industry Institute Working relationships and team dynamics have emerged as the leading variables affecting the cost and schedule of industrial projects, according to a research report from the Construction Industry Institute, presented at the group's annual conference in Indianapolis on July 21-23.The performance-assessment effort "really could be a game-changer for us and for the whole industry," said J. McM. "Jim" Backes, CII vice chair and Hargrove Engineers + Constructors executive vice president. BackesResearch staff took all the data
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