Related Links: Bureau of Labor Statistics February employment report with data tables AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's comments and analysis ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu's comments and analysis 
Construction’s February unemployment rate continued to run well below year-earlier levels, dipping to 10.6% from February 2014’s 12.8%, as the industry gained 29,000 jobs during the month.The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ look at last month’s employment picture, released on March 6, also showed that construction’s jobless rate increased from January’s 9.8%.The BLS rates aren’t adjusted for seasonal variations. Winter storms may have been a factor in February’s month-to-month rise.The jobs results were

Related Links: Commerce Dept./U.S Census Bureau report on January 2015 construction put in place ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu's comments and analysis AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's comments and analysis Construction spending climbed 1.8% in January on a year-over-year basis, to an annual rate of $971.4 billion, but it was down 1.1% from December's total, the Commerce Dept. has reported.The latest monthly report on the value of finished construction projects, which Commerce's U.S. Census Bureau released on March 2, also showed that January’s private construction rose 0.5% from its year-earlier level, to a $697.6-billion annual rate, but slipped 0.5% from

Photo by Mario Olivero/AASHTO Shuster "confident" Congress can pass a long-term transportation bill, but funding remains unresolved. Related Links: Lawmakers Still Search for Solution to Highway, Transit Funding Needs With federal highway authorizations due to expire in three months, and no replacement bill even introduced yet in Congress, some state agencies are postponing highway contract bid lettings, and others are drawing up contingency plans that could delay project starts, officials say.The search for a new surface transportation bill was front and center at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) annual winter meeting, held Feb. 24-27 in

Related Links: Obama Budget Features Proposed $478-Billion Transport Bill (enr.com 2/2/2015) [subscription] For Inhofe, Transportation Bill Tops Agenda (ENR 2/2/2015 issue) As the May 31 highway and transit authorization deadline approaches, Congress is working on potential new bills. So far, lawmakers haven't located the revenue needed to fund that legislation.SHUSTERHouse Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) says he is drafting a bill. "But the driving force behind it is going to be the funding," he says. "We don't want another two-year bill. We want a five- [or] six-year bill."Shuster told reporters after a Feb. 11 hearing on the

Related Links: FAA summary of proposed drone rule Commercial Drone Flight Condoned, For Some (enr.com 12/15/2014) Survey Technology Firms Deploy Their Own Drones (ENR 9/8/2014 issue) [subscription] Some Firms Are Not Waiting For Regulations On Commercial Drone Operations (ENR 9/8/2014 issue) [subscription] The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed a regulation that would place limits on commercial use of airborne drones, a technology that has sparked interest from surveying firms and construction contractors.FAA last December had granted a handful of firms exemptions to use drones for aerial surveying and monitoring construction sites.But FAA's eagerly awaited proposal, announced on Feb. 15, would

Related Links: Obama executive order on flood-risk standard White House fact sheet on flood-risk standard Corps of Engineers study of North Atlantic coast flood risks The Obama administration has issued tougher risk-management standards for federal agencies to use in determining where federally funded buildings, highways and other infrastructure projects in floodplains should be situated.The new requirements, contained in an executive order that President Obama signed on Jan. 30, drew praise from state floodplain officials and environmental advocates, but also sparked criticism from a construction group and some lawmakers— including eight Republican U.S. Senators, who question the standard's legality.John Podesta, counselor

Related Links: BLS employment report for January 2015 with data tables AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's analysis ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu's analysis Construction began 2015 with upbeat employment figures, adding 39,000 jobs in January, pushing the industry’s unemployment rate down to 9.8%, well below the year-earlier level.The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest monthly employment report, released on Feb. 6, showed that construction’s jobless rate last month fell from January 2014’s 12.3% but was up from December’s 8.3%.The month-to-month change probably reflected the industry’s usual winter work slowdown; the BLS rates are not adjusted for seasonal variations. All construction sectors

Related Links: Commerce Dept./Census Bureau release and data tables for December construction AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's comments and analysis ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu's comments and analysis The construction industry posted a healthy 2014, as total spending rose 5.6% to $961.4 billion the Commerce Dept. has reported. The total was the highest in six years, a construction economist said.In its latest monthly construction spending report, released on Feb. 2, Commerce’s U.S. Census Bureau also said that the seasonally adjusted value of completed work edged up 0.4% in December compared with the previous month, to an annualized rate of $982.1

President Obama’s nearly $4-trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2016 has a picture of a bridge on its cover, reflecting one of the main elements inside the book: substantial spending on infrastructure, especially the initial year's $478-billion, six-year surface-transportation bill.

Photo Courtesy of Kiewit Turner VA aims to finish the Aurora project in 2017, four years later than original date. Related Links: Searching for a Better Way to Build Big Veterans' Hospitals (ENR 12/29/2014 issue) [subscription] Federal Ruling Halts Construction of Massive VA Hospital Near Denver It has been nearly 60 years since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last worked on constructing a major veterans' hospital, but the agency may be coming back to that line of work.For months, the Dept. of Veterans Affairs has been hit by strong Capitol Hill criticism for poor management of big hospital projects.