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The not seasonally adjusted (NSA) national construction unemployment rate was 5.9 percent in December, down 1.5 percent from December 2016 and the lowest December rate on record, according to an analysis released by ABC of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. Estimated construction unemployment rates were down in 46 states on a year-over-year basis, unchanged in one (Idaho) and up in three states (Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire). Here is a complete list of the latest state rankings.

At the same time, the construction industry employed 250,000 more workers than in December 2016.

“Healthy construction activity throughout much of the country is supporting strong construction employment,” said Bernard M. Markstein, Ph.D., president and chief economist of Markstein Advisors, who conducted the analysis for ABC. “The recovery and rebuilding efforts following 2017’s hurricanes, floods and wildfires continue to increase demand for workers, offsetting some of the usual seasonal reductions in construction employment. Many workers in cold-weather states who have experienced normal reduced demand for their services have moved to states where building and rebuilding continues.”

Because these industry-specific rates are not seasonally adjusted, national and state-level unemployment rates are best evaluated on a year-over-year basis. The monthly movement of the rates still provides some information, although extra care must be used in drawing conclusions from these movements.

From the beginning of the data series in 2000 through 2016, the monthly change in the national NSA construction unemployment rate from November to December has always been an increase. The rate for December 2017 was no different, increasing 0.9 percent from November, well below the median increase of 1.9 percent. Among the states, 46 had increases and four had decreases (Alaska, Montana, Nevada and Oregon).

The Top Five States

The states with the lowest estimated December NSA construction unemployment rates in order from lowest to highest were:

1. Hawaii, 2.9 percent
2. Colorado, 3.8 percent
3. Massachusetts, 3.9 percent
4. Virginia, 4 percent
5. Georgia, South Carolina and Texas (tie), 4.2 percent

Three of the top five states were in the top five in November: Colorado, Hawaii and Massachusetts.

Hawaii continued its number-one ranking for the third month in a row. It was the state’s second lowest December rate since the beginning of the estimates in 2000, behind December 2006’s 2.3 percent rate. Note that Hawaii’s unemployment rate is a rate for construction, mining and logging combined. The data to estimate a construction unemployment rate alone are not available for either Hawaii or Delaware.

Colorado had the second lowest December rate. That was an improvement from third lowest in November, tied with Idaho and Massachusetts, based on revised data (previously reported as the fifth lowest rate).  This was Colorado’s lowest December estimated rate since the 3.4 percent rate in December 2000, which also makes it the state’s second lowest rate on record. 

Massachusetts had the third lowest December construction unemployment rate, the same ranking as in November based on revised data (previously reported as the fourth lowest rate). It was the state’s second lowest December rate after 2016’s 3.6 percent rate.

Virginia had the fourth lowest rate in December, up from being tied with Texas for eighth lowest in November. It was the state’s lowest estimated December rate since 2006’s 3.4 percent and its third lowest December rate on record. 

Georgia, South Carolina and Texas tied for the fifth lowest rate in December. For Georgia, that was up from 12th lowest in November (tied with Iowa and Kansas). It was the state’s lowest estimated December rate on record. 

For South Carolina, it was also the state’s lowest estimated December rate on record and an improvement in ranking from 10th lowest rate in November.

For Texas, it was an improvement from being tied with Virginia for eighth lowest rate in November. It was also the state’s lowest December rate on record, matching 2006’s 4.2 percent rate. 

Utah, which had the second lowest rate in November, dropped to the 11th lowest rate (tied with Oregon) with a 4.6 estimated construction unemployment rate. Nonetheless, it was the state’s lowest December unemployment rate since the 3 percent rate in 2007.

Idaho, which tied with Colorado and Massachusetts for the third lowest rate in November based on revised data (previously reported as tied with Utah for the second lowest rate), fell to eighth lowest in December with a 4.3 rate. That rate matched 2016’s rate, which is also the lowest December rate on record for the state.

The Bottom Five States

The states with the highest November NSA construction unemployment rates in order from lowest to highest were:

46. New Mexico and Rhode Island (tie), 9.3 percent
47. Montana, 9.5 percent
48. West Virginia, 9.8 percent
49. Illinois, 10.2 percent
50. Alaska, 15.2 percent

Four of these states—Alaska, Illinois, Montana and New Mexico—were also among the bottom five states in November. 

Alaska had the highest rate in the nation for the fifth consecutive month. Given that these estimates are not seasonally adjusted, a high construction unemployment rate for the state at this time of the year is normal. However, this was the state’s lowest December rate since the 13.9 percent rate in December 2001. Alaska was also one of the four states that posted a decrease in their rate from November, down 0.7 percent, behind Montana’s 0.8 percent decrease.

Illinois had the second highest rate in December, compared to the fourth highest in November. This was the state’s lowest December construction unemployment rate since its 9.5 percent rate in December 2006. 

West Virginia had the third highest estimated NSA construction unemployment rate in December, compared to the sixth highest in November. 

Montana had the fourth highest construction unemployment rate in December, an improvement from second highest in November. Further, the state had the largest monthly decline and tied with Alabama for the largest year-over-year decrease in the nation—down 0.8 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively. It was also the state’s lowest December rate since the 7.1 percent in December 2007. 

New Mexico and Rhode Island tied for the fifth highest rate in December. For New Mexico, it was an improvement in its ranking from third highest in November but a steep slide in Rhode Island’s ranking, which had the 15th highest rate in November. 

Rhode Island also had the dubious distinction of tying with Iowa for the second largest monthly increase in its rate, up 3.5 percent, behind South Dakota’s jump of 3.9 percent. In spite of this, it was the state’s lowest estimated December NSA construction unemployment rate since its 8.3 rate in December 2006. 

Connecticut, which had the fifth highest rate in November, improved in ranking to the 10th highest rate in December with an 8.8 percent rate. Although it was one of only three states with a year-over-year increase in its rate, it was the state’s second lowest December rate after 2016’s 8.2 percent since 2006’s 8.5 percent rate. 
 
To better understand the basis for calculating unemployment rates and what they measure, see the article Background on State Construction Unemployment Rates.

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WASHINGTON, Jan. 31—Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) President and CEO Michael D. Bellaman issued the following remarks on President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech.

“Associated Builders and Contractors appreciates President Trump’s focus on creating a strong economy with limitless opportunities for all Americans. The president is right, America is a nation of builders, and ABC and its members are confident about the direction of the U.S. economy and the construction industry and stand ready to help rebuild America’s infrastructure.”

INFRASTRUCTURE

“ABC is encouraged by the president’s commitment to rebuild America’s infrastructure. The president’s remarks mirror many of the principles ABC wants to ultimately be included in the forthcoming infrastructure plan. Lawmakers and regulators must capitalize on the president’s executive order to reduce project approval timelines while continuing to respect sensible environmental regulations. ABC also advocates for increasing the use of public-private partnerships, embracing technology that improves efficiency and safety and championing an inclusive policy of promoting robust competition that welcomes all qualified Americans and businesses to fairly compete to rebuild America’s taxpayer-funded infrastructure.”

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

“With the promise of an infrastructure bill that could create hundreds of thousands of construction jobs over the next ten years, ABC is pleased to hear the president promote the benefits of vocational schools and repeat his push for America to invest in workforce development. This is a critical time for the construction industry, which already needs to hire an estimated 500,000 skilled workers to fill a backlog of existing jobs. Reducing barriers to meet the workforce development needs of the construction industry and America’s skilled workforce is a crucial component of rebuilding America’s infrastructure and driving economic growth.”

TAX REFORM

“ABC has witnessed the positive effects that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is already having on job creation and company confidence. Thanks to tax savings, ABC members are planning to invest in new equipment, ideas and talent.”

IMMIGRATION

“ABC also welcomes the president’s remarks on immigration reform and is encouraged by the conversations taking place on Capitol Hill and in the White House. While we agree that we need to secure our nation’s borders, there must be reforms that address the workforce needs of employers.”

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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has completed its mailing of the 2017 EEO-1 survey notification letters, according to a Jan. 24 press release issued by the agency. 

The annual survey requires all private employers with 100 or more employees and federal government contractors or first-tier subcontractors with 50 or more employees and a contract/subcontract of $50,000 or more to file the EEO-1 report. The EEO-1 report provides employment data by race/ethnicity, gender and job categories. The annual filing deadline is March 31, 2018. Learn more on the EEOC’s EEO-1 survey website.

The press release instructs employers who meet the criteria listed above, or employers that filed the EEO-1 report in 2016 and have not received the 2017 EEO-1 notification letter by Jan. 29, 2018, to immediately contact the EEO-1 Joint Reporting Committee at (877) 392-4647 or by emailing e1.techassistance@eeoc.gov.  

On Aug. 29, 2017, the Office of Management and Budget announced that it is initiating a review and immediate stay of the effectiveness of the pay data collection aspects of the EEO-1 report that were revised on Sept. 29, 2016, under the Obama administration. As a result, affected employers are not required to provide pay information on the 2017 EEO-1 form—meaning that the 2017 report is identical to the 2016 version.

For more information, visit the EEOC’s website.

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The U.S. economy grew by 2.3 percent in 2017, while fixed investment increased at an annual rate of 7.9 percent, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of data released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
 
The economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.6 percent during the fourth quarter of 2017 after expanding at a 3.2 percent rate during the third quarter. Nonresidential fixed investment performed similarly to overall fixed investment in the fourth quarter by increasing at a 6.8 percent rate. This represents the third time in the past four quarters that nonresidential fixed investment increased by at least 6.7 percent. 

The year-end figure for GDP growth of 2.3 percent is up from 1.5 percent in 2016 but down from the 2.9 percent figure posted in 2015. Nonresidential fixed investment increased 4.7 percent in 2017, its best year since increasing 6.9 percent in 2014. This followed a 0.6 percent contraction in 2016. 

“Many will look at this report and conclude that consumer spending, the largest component of the economy, drove fourth quarter growth by expanding at a 3.8 percent annual rate,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Upon further inspection, however, the fourth quarter consumer spending missed its 3 percent expectation due to imports increasing at twice the rate of exports. This widening trade deficit subtracted 1.13 percentage points from fourth quarter GDP growth. 

“The factors that have helped to accelerate economic growth in America remain in place, including a strengthening global economy, abundant consumer and business confidence, elevated liquidity flowing through the veins of the international financial system and deregulation,” said Basu. “Stakeholders should be aware that although many companies have announced big plans for stepped-up investment, staffing and compensation—due at least in part to the recently enacted tax cut—the plans have yet to fully manifest within the data. The implication is that the U.S. economy is set to roar in 2018. 

“As always, contractors are warned to remain wary,” said Basu. “The combination of extraordinary confidence and capital can fuel excess financial leverage and spur asset price bubbles. The implication is that as contractors remain busy, there should be an ongoing stockpiling of defensive cash. That recommendation will be difficult for many contractors to implement, however, with labor shortages and materials costs rising more rapidly and slender profit margins in many construction segments.”

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ABC and a coalition of construction and business associations sent President Trump a letter urging him to eliminate government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal and federally assisted projects, allowing all qualified contractors and Americans to fairly compete to build and work on these taxpayer-funded projects.

In the letter, the coalition called for “regulatory reform to create a level playing field in the procurement of government construction contracts, increase competition, help small businesses grow, curb construction costs and spread the job-creating benefits of federally funded contracts throughout the entire construction industry.

“Currently, the construction industry faces a skilled labor shortage of almost 500,000 people,” said the letter. “If the construction industry grows at a modest two to three percent rate over the next few years and an infrastructure bill resulting in an additional $1 trillion worth of construction is added into the equation, the industry could need to fill an additional one million more jobs as early as 2020. Therefore, it makes little sense to continue a policy that artificially restricts the vast majority of skilled American labor and qualified contractors from competing to deliver to taxpayers the best possible product at the best possible price.”

“If the Trump Administration creates an inclusive policy so all Americans and all qualified companies can make America’s infrastructure great again, it would be a win-win for taxpayers and the U.S. economy,” said ABC Vice President of Regulatory, Labor and State Affairs Ben Brubeck.

ABC and the coalition have repeatedly petitioned President Trump to rescind President Obama’s Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies to require project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal contracts to build projects of $25 million or more on a case-by-case basis, and replace it with Executive Orders 13202 and 13208, which prohibit PLAs from being required on federal and federally assisted construction projects.

In 2017, ABC members won $3.6 billion of federal contracts worth more than $25 million—more than half of the value of such large-scale contracts.

A total of 24 states have passed measures restricting government-mandated PLAs ensuring fair and open competition on public works projects.

Learn more about ABC’s successful fight against government-mandated PLAs at TheTruthAboutPLAs.com.

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On Jan. 22, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published new procedures for processing H-2B visa applications following this year’s significant increase in labor certification bids. Due to the spike in applications filed on Jan. 1, 2018, the DOL Employment and Training Administration’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) will now process these applications in order of the time of day they were received to “better reflect the sequential order in which employers filed applications.” Previously, OFLC processed these applications irrespective of the time received and just focused on the date. 

The notice further states that “the overwhelming workload this year has strained OFLC’s processing system and resulted in delays for the majority of all applications filed on Jan. 1.”

OFLC expects to process the first 2,400 of the 4,498 applications filed by next week, with the remaining applications processed in the weeks that follow. According to the notice “Employers receiving Notices of Acceptance can proceed to meet the additional regulatory requirements, including recruitment of U.S. workers and submission of recruitment reports. Employers receiving Notices of Deficiency that are corrected, and who then receive a Notice of Acceptance, can also proceed to meet the additional regulatory requirements.”

The current cap on H-2B visas only allows for 66,000 visas in each fiscal year. ABC believes that further strides to simplify this process, in conjunction with an expansion of the cap, are necessary in order to make this program an effective tool in offsetting the growing workforce shortages in the U.S. construction industry.

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ABC and a coalition of construction and business associations sent President Trump a letter urging him to eliminate government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal and federally assisted projects, allowing all qualified contractors and Americans to fairly compete to build and work on these taxpayer-funded projects.

In the letter, ABC called for “regulatory reform to create a level playing field in the procurement of government construction contracts, increase competition, help small businesses grow, curb construction costs and spread the job-creating benefits of federally funded contracts throughout the entire construction industry.

“Currently, the construction industry faces a skilled labor shortage of almost 500,000 people,” ABC said. “If the construction industry grows at a modest two to three percent rate over the next few years and an infrastructure bill resulting in an additional $1 trillion worth of construction is added into the equation, the industry could need to fill an additional one million more jobs as early as 2020. Therefore, it makes little sense to continue a policy that artificially restricts the vast majority of skilled American labor and qualified contractors from competing to deliver to taxpayers the best possible product at the best possible price.”

ABC has repeatedly petitioned President Trump to rescind President Obama’s Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies to require project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal contracts to build projects of $25 million or more on a case-by-case basis, and replace it with the executive orders 13202 and 13208, which prohibit PLAs from being required on federal and federally assisted construction projects.

In 2017, ABC members won $3.6 billion of federal contracts worth more than $25 million—more than half of the value of such large-scale contracts.

A total of 24 states have passed measures restricting government-mandated PLAs on public works projects.

Learn more about ABC’s successful fight against government-mandated PLAs at TheTruthAboutPLAs.com.

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On Jan. 22, President Trump signed a stopgap spending bill (H.R.195) to end the government shutdown and fund government operations through Feb. 8. Included in the bill was a suspension for 2019 of the health insurance tax (HIT) on providers included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. 

ABC has been a vocal opponent of the HIT since the exactment of the PPACA in 2010. The HIT, which took effect in 2014, received a suspension for 2017 but will be in effect for 2018. H.R. 195 also included a delay in the medical device tax for 2018 and 2019 and another two-year delay of the “Cadillac” tax, making the effective date 2022.

The stopgap spending bill gives Congress almost three weeks to resolve disagreements over spending caps and immigration, which led to the partial shutdown of the government for three days.

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Construction Executive magazine, published by ABC, is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year with the launch of its new and improved website, ConstructionExec.com, and a new digital newsletter, CE This Week. Readers can now access a variety of articles posted daily that pertain to all facets of the construction industry: safety, insurance, technology, surety bonding, regulatory, craft training, leadership, fleet management, business development, economic trends and more.

“We have served as the magazine for the business of construction for 15 years, and it’s exciting to be able to deliver our award-winning print and digital content to readers via a responsive website that lets them share, save and search for the articles that are most valuable to them,” said Lauren Pinch, Construction Executive’s editor-in-chief. “The construction industry is changing at a faster pace than ever before, and we’re committed to keeping readers on top of the issues that will impact their businesses’ profitability and productivity.” 

To that end, Construction Executive’s new CE This Week newsletter lets readers customize the digital content they want to receive directly in their inbox every Friday. Subscribers can choose the topics that interest them the most—business, technology, market trends, legal/regulatory, safety/risk, workforce development and equipment/fleet—and they can update their preferences at any time. 

“What better way to close out your week than taking five to 10 minutes to read up on the topics that are top of mind, such as tax planning, growth opportunities, solutions to the talent shortage and keeping up with new technology,” said ABC President and CEO Michael D. Bellaman. “Construction Executive is an invaluable resource that ABC is proud to share with the entire construction industry.”

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ABC is reminding its contractor member firms that their 2017 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Form 300A work-related injury and illness log summaries must be posted in a visible spot on all construction sites Feb. 1 through April 30.

The summaries, which list the total number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred in 2017 and were logged on the employer’s OSHA Form 300A, must be certified by a company executive and displayed on an area where notices to employees are typically posted. Employment information about the average number of employees and total hours worked during the calendar year is also required. 

Companies with no recorded injuries or illnesses in 2017 must still post the form, with zeros on the total line.

Information on electronic submission of the OSHA 2017 Form 300A can be found here.

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