A couple of months ago, I wrote that I was tapping the brakes on my expectations for the construction economy based on some unexpected changes in circumstances: interest rates are not falling as quickly as had been predicted in the face of stubborn inflation, coupled with consumer sentiment that is on a wholly unexpected slide despite the fact that the…
Read MoreThe U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 5,283 fatal work injuries in 2023, down from 5,486 in 2022. The fatal work injury rate was 3.5 per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers versus 3.7 the prior year. At those rates, a worker died every 99 minutes from a work-related injury in 2023 compared to 96 minutes in 2022. Transportation incidents were…
Read MoreEmployment Projections — 2023-2033, a new Bureau of Labor Statistics report, tracks the addition of 6.7 million jobs to the U.S. economy over the next 10 years, 380,000 of them in Construction, 75,000 in Architectural, Engineering and Related Services occupational categories. The projected 4.7 percent gain in Construction jobs through 2033, where industry headcount would hover 8.4 million versus 8…
Read MoreSources: Occupational Safety and Health Administration; CP staff The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is replacing traditional hard hats with safety helmets, citing greater protection prospects for inspectors while noting, “OSHA wants employers to make safety and health a core value in their workplaces and is committed to doing the same by leading by example and embracing the evolution of…
Read Moreby Pierre G. Villere Among the most frustrating aspects of life as we went through the pandemic, and which haunts us still today, is the employment picture. There is no minimizing the magnitude of the human tragedy, with an official tally of over 5.2 million hospital admissions and a stunning 1.04 million deaths; the sheer human loss is unspeakable. But…
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In light of White House “Build Back Better” ambitions, Associated Builders and Contractors Vice President of Regulatory, Labor and State Affairs Ben Brubeck questions a new executive order encouraging project labor agreement (PLA) mandates on federal construction contracts exceeding $35 million. “The policy will not help America; instead, it will exacerbate the industry’s skilled workforce shortage, needlessly increase construction costs…
Read MoreSources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; CP staff Wage and salary workers who were members of unions represented 10.8 percent of the 2020 workforce, a 0.5 percent year-over-year gain, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. In construction, the union membership rate rose 0.1 point, to 12.8 percent or 1.05 million workers, over the same period.
Read MoreThe 14.7 million wage and salary workers who were members of unions in 2018 represented 10.5 percent of the U.S. workforce, down 0.2 percent year-over-year, a Bureau of Labor Statistics report confirms. The figure underscores a protracted union membership rate decline since 1983, the first year for which comparable worker data are available. BLS calculated a rank-and-file of 17.7 million workers that year, or 20.1 percent of the wage and salary workforce.
Read MoreSources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; CP staff
The 14.7 million wage and salary workers who were members of unions in 2018 represented 10.5 percent of the U.S. workforce, down 0.2 percent year-over-year, a Bureau of Labor Statistics report confirms. The figure underscores a sustained union membership rate decline since 1983, the first year for which comparable worker data are available. BLS calculated a rank-and-file of 17.7 million workers that year, or 20.1 percent of the wage and salary workforce.
Read MoreSources: Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff
Adding to an early-2017 bill targeting the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act, Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) has introduced The Opportunity in Federal Construction Act (S. 1200), which directs the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to use Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data to calculate prevailing wages for federal and federally assisted construction projects. A BLS data method would replace the current practice of relying on the DOL Wage and Hour Division to calculate Davis-Bacon-bound job wage levels.
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