News Releases

ABC: Wisconsin Is the Top State for Construction

December 16, 2024 |
1114 |
News Releases 2024, Policy, Politics and Policy

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16—Wisconsin is the No. 1 state for construction, according to Associated Builders and Contractors’ 10th annual Merit Shop Scorecard. The scorecard, released annually since 2015, ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on policies and programs that better career pathways in construction, further workforce development and strengthen fair and open competition on taxpayer-funded construction projects. Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia and Florida rounded out the top five states in 2024, in ranking order.

“Policies and processes that protect free enterprise, promote economic growth, reduce regulatory burdens and expand workforce development create the conditions to welcome all of the U.S. construction industry to rebuild America’s infrastructure,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC’s vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs. “States like Wisconsin, Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia and Florida set the standard in favorable conditions for the construction industry, and its workforce, to thrive. Hard-working taxpayers are best served by a regulatory environment that creates a level playing field for all contractors to build America with fewer obstacles.”

Wisconsin has been a high-performing state year after year, but takes the top spot for the highest scores on fair and open competition policies prohibiting government-mandated project labor agreements, ensuring market-driven wages on public works jobs and protecting workers with its right-to-work law; a sustained level of positive job growth in construction, with a five-year job growth rate of 4.4%; a continued commitment to quality career and technical education, delivering a 97.4% graduation rate for students in career technical education programs and a 91.4% rate of postsecondary CTE students placed in careers and/or apprenticeship programs; and a workforce development pipeline that delivers a construction labor supply over 100% of demand amidst a severe nationwide construction labor shortage.

Arkansas came in second behind Wisconsin, one step up from 2023 when it ranked third. The state has excelled at all aspects of fostering and educating a skilled workforce, boasting a 6.1% growth rate in construction industry jobs and delivering outstanding results in CTE. Arkansas also maintains a fair and open public construction market, allowing the full breadth of the state’s construction workforce to pursue projects.

Florida, Arizona and Indiana remain high-performing states. All three maintain exceptional CTE and workforce development programs, delivering a robust and highly skilled workforce. Indiana continues to protect public projects from the threat of PLAs on the state and local level when possible, including targeted policies such as the prohibition of government-mandated PLAs on large-scale projects in Indianapolis. This highlights Indiana’s successful defense of the merit shop and taxpayers in a historically difficult Midwestern political environment.

Florida, a former first-place state, continues to perform highly across the board. With one of the largest economies in the country and extensive labor needs, it has maintained a particular focus on innovative career-centered education opportunities. This continues to yield positive results for craft professionals and the construction workforce as the state experiences record population growth.

Arizona returned to the top 10 in 2024 due to a 5.8% job growth rate in construction and a 90% labor supply versus demand, along with the state’s continued maintenance of a prohibition on government-mandated PLAs and other policy vehicles fostering an attractive business environment.

Michigan continued to drop in the rankings in 2024, falling to No. 33 due to the full repeal of right-to-work legislation. The legislature continues to work to repeal the Fair and Open Competition Act by the end of this year. This caps off an adversarial two years for the merit shop that already saw the full reinstatement of prevailing wage—initially repealed in 2018—in 2023 via codification after Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer reinstated prevailing wage through executive action in 2022, in addition to this year’s repeal of right to work.

The bottom five states, in ranking order, were Washington, the District of Columbia, Illinois, New York and Hawaii, each receiving poor ratings for creating conditions and policies that allow merit shop contractors to thrive.

Low-performing states maintain policies unfriendly to open shop contractors and taxpayers, such as encouraging or requiring the use of government-mandated PLAs on state and/or local projects, including new executive actions by governors in Hawaii, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Policies limiting opportunity for the merit shop workforce, which makes up the majority of construction workers in these states, also lead to lower-than-desired outcomes in workforce readiness and job growth for the construction industry, whether union or merit shop.

The 2024 Building America: The Merit Shop Scorecard rates state laws, programs, policies and statistics in seven categories: project labor agreements, prevailing wage laws, right-to-work laws, public-private partnerships, workforce development, CTE and job growth rate.

Monthly Construction Input Prices Unchanged in November, Says ABC

December 12, 2024 |
906 |
Construction Economic Update, Construction Economics, Materials Prices, News Releases 2024

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 — Construction input prices were unchanged in November compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices increased 0.1% for the month.

Overall construction input prices are 0.5% higher than a year ago, while nonresidential construction input prices are 0.3% higher. Prices decreased in two of the three energy subcategories last month. Crude petroleum prices were down 3.3%, while unprocessed energy materials prices were down 2.0%. Natural gas prices were up 2.6% in November.

“Construction input prices are up just 0.2% through the first 11 months of 2024,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “However, that encouraging year-to-date price growth primarily reflects declining energy prices and obscures price escalation that has occurred for specific materials. Prices for copper wire and cable and softwood lumber, for instance, are up nearly 12% year over year.

“While input prices have, in total, been well behaved, yesterday’s Consumer Price Index release indicated that economywide inflation reaccelerated in November,” said Basu. “The year-over-year rate of price increase, at 2.7%, remains close to the Federal Reserve’s 2.0% target, yet the recent uptick suggests that inflation may prove more stubborn than previously expected. This rebound in inflation aside, contractors remain optimistic about the coming year, with greater than 60% expecting their sales to increase over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index.”

ABC Hails US Senate for Blocking McFerran’s Confirmation as Labor Board Chair

December 11, 2024 |
1054 |
News Releases 2024, Policy, Politics and Policy

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11—Associated Builders and Contractors today issued the following statement applauding the U.S. Senate for voting down the confirmation of Lauren McFerran to a third term as chair of the National Labor Relations Board, 49-50.

“McFerran’s tenure has been the subject of multiple congressional hearings, oversight investigations and press reports highlighting the NLRB’s failures,” said Kristen Swearingen, ABC vice president of legislative & political affairs. “Under McFerran’s leadership, the NLRB has issued decisions and expanded interpretations of the National Labor Relations Act that have been rejected by the business community, Congress and federal courts. Specifically, the Board’s joint employer standard, which would have drastically altered existing contractor and subcontractor relationships in the construction industry, was nullified by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in March.

“President Joe Biden nominated NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran to serve a third term in May, and this move threatened Democratic control of the Board through August 2026,” said Swearingen. “Now, that will not happen because, thankfully, Senate Republicans and Democrats recognized her policies are harmful and that the confirmation process was flawed.”

ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator Holds Steady in November, Contractor Confidence Surges

December 10, 2024 |
1856 |
Construction Backlog Indicator, Construction Confidence Index, Construction Economics, News Releases 2024

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10—Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator remained unchanged at 8.4 months in November, according to an ABC member survey conducted Nov. 20 to Dec. 3. The reading is down 0.1 months from November 2023.

View the full Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index data series.

Backlog in the infrastructure category contracted in November, though it is still the only category with higher backlog on a year-over-year basis.

ABC’s Construction Confidence Index readings for sales, profit margins and staffing levels improved in November. The readings for all three components remain above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations for growth over the next six months.

“Contractor confidence surged in November even though backlog was unchanged for the month," said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “This sudden improvement in confidence reflects increased policy certainty in the wake of November’s presidential election, and contractors are optimistic about the prospect of falling borrowing costs over the next several quarters. Though backlog contracted in the commercial and institutional and heavy industry categories last month, contractors expect increased activity in privately financed segments during the next six months.”

Note: The reference months for the Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index data series were revised on May 12, 2020, to better reflect the survey period. CBI quantifies the previous month's work under contract based on the latest financials available, while CCI measures contractors' outlook for the next six months. View the methodology for both indicators.

ABC: Construction Adds Just 10,000 Jobs in November, Industry Employment Growth Still Outpaces Economy

December 6, 2024 |
1184 |
Construction Economics, Employment, News Releases 2024

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6—The construction industry added 10,000 jobs on net in November, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has risen by 211,000 jobs, an increase of 2.6%.

Nonresidential construction employment increased by 6,800 positions on net, with growth in 2 of the 3 subcategories. Nonresidential specialty trade added the most jobs on net, with employment in the category increasing by 7,000 positions. Heavy and civil engineering added 1,500 jobs, while nonresidential building lost 1,700 jobs last month.

The construction unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November. Unemployment across all industries rose to 4.2% from 4.1% in October.

“While the construction industry added just 10,000 jobs in November, industrywide employment growth has still significantly outpaced the broader economy over the past year,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “More importantly, economywide job gains rebounded in November, confirming October’s paltry job growth was indeed a result of hurricanes Helene and Milton.

“The combination of relatively cool payroll employment growth over the past three months, combined with a slight uptick in the unemployment rate, increases the odds that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again at their December meeting, though the greater determinant will be the Consumer Price Index data released next week,” said Basu. “For the construction industry, there is plenty of reason for optimism, given the prospect of lower interest rates and that contractors broadly expect their sales to increase over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index.”

ABC: Construction Job Openings Down Nearly 40% From a Year Ago

December 3, 2024 |
983 |
Construction Economics, JOLTS, News Releases 2024

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3—The construction industry had 249,000 job openings on the last day of October, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. JOLTS defines a job opening as any unfilled position for which an employer is actively recruiting. Industry job openings decreased by 9,000 for the month and are down by 164,000 from the same time last year.

“Construction industry job openings fell again in October and are down nearly 40% over the past year,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “While JOLTS data can be volatile from month to month, especially at the industry level, the decline in unfilled construction positions is undeniable over the past few quarters. On average, just 3.4% of industrywide positions were open over the past six months, the lowest rate since 2020.

“There’s reason to suspect that election uncertainty, combined with the expectation that borrowing costs will decline over the next several quarters, delayed staffing decisions over the past few months,” said Basu. “Industry hiring fell to the lowest level since 2020 in October, while contractors laid off fewer workers than in any month on record. With industrywide employment growth outpacing the broader economy over the past few quarters and contractors on net expecting to increase their staffing levels over next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, it appears that construction job openings will rise through the early months of 2025.”

ABC: Withdrawal of Biden Administration’s Apprenticeship Rule a Victory for Stakeholders

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2—Associated Builders and Contractors today issued the following statement applauding the withdrawal of the U.S. Department of Labor’s rule overhauling regulations related to government-registered apprenticeship programs, or GRAPs.

“ABC fully supports government-registered apprenticeship programs as a key component of the construction industry’s all-of-the-above solution to upskilling the more than half a million new workers needed in 2024 alone, but the DOL’s proposed apprenticeship overhaul was out of touch with the needs of employers and apprentices, and was a missed opportunity to modernize and expand the apprenticeship system,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs. “We are pleased that the Biden administration heeded the concerns of ABC and industry GRAP stakeholders and halted this unnecessarily costly and burdensome policy change, which would have restricted GRAP system growth and exacerbated the construction industry’s labor shortage.

“Feedback from ABC’s GRAP stakeholders on the proposed rule was overwhelmingly negative, with 94% of respondents stating that the proposal would increase the costs of participating in or sponsoring a GRAP and 90% saying they would be less likely to start their own GRAP as a result of the DOL’s proposal,” said Brubeck.

“Specifically, the Biden DOL’s proposal failed to fully address ongoing challenges with the GRAP system, including efforts by unions and their state government allies to suppress new GRAP approvals and restrict taxpayer-funded contracts and grants to only businesses and GRAPs affiliated with certain unions,” said Brubeck. “Instead, the rule would have reduced flexibility by replacing competency-based GRAPs with time-based GRAPs, eliminated state governments’ ability to approve apprenticeship programs for new occupations needed to keep up with the modern economy and incorporated dozens of expensive new recordkeeping and administrative requirements. Overall, this rule would have cost the regulated community more than $1.3 billion over the next 10 years, according to the DOL’s own flawed and stunningly lowballed regulatory cost analysis.

“The current apprenticeship system is in need of improvement,” said Brubeck. “ABC’s analysis of government data indicates that GRAPs are struggling to meet the construction industry’s workforce needs, with just 250,000 apprentice participants and 45,000 apprentice graduates in fiscal year 2023. The withdrawal of the rule may present an opportunity for the incoming Trump administration to build a stronger GRAP system for the construction industry that will prioritize developing the workforce needed to complete critical infrastructure projects across the nation.”

On March 18, ABC submitted more than 40 pages of comments on the DOL’s controversial proposed rule, urging the DOL to withdraw the illegal and misguided provisions of the proposal.

“ABC and its chapters are educating craft, safety and management professionals in construction using innovative and flexible learning models like just-in-time task training, competency-based progression and work-based learning, in addition to more than 450 federal and state GRAPs in over 20 occupations across America, in order to develop a safe, skilled and productive workforce,” said John Mielke, ABC senior director of apprenticeship.

Learn more at abc.org/apprenticeship.

Storms Suppress Nonresidential Construction Spending in October, Says ABC

December 2, 2024 |
917 |
Construction Economics, Construction Spending, News Releases 2024

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2—National nonresidential construction spending decreased 0.4% in October, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.228 trillion.

Spending was down on a monthly basis in 11 of the 16 nonresidential subcategories. Private nonresidential spending decreased 0.3%, while public nonresidential construction spending was down 0.5% in October.

“Total construction spending rose sharply in October, but that was entirely due to a sharp increase in residential activity,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Nonresidential construction spending contracted for the month, and the declines were widespread, with spending down in 11 of the 16 subsectors. The 3.9% increase in nonresidential spending over the past 12 months is the smallest since December 2021.

“Some of October’s nonresidential weakness and residential strength can be attributed to hurricanes Helene and Milton,” said Basu. “The storms stalled work on several projects in North Carolina and Florida and initiated a massive increase in residential repair work. Construction of new housing units is actually down slightly over the past year, while spending on renovations and repairs is up by a robust 18.5%.

“The effects of these storms on construction spending dynamics should largely dissipate by the end of the year,” said Basu. “Given that a majority of contractors expect their sales to increase over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, there’s reason to expect nonresidential construction spending to rebound in the coming months.”

ABC 2025 National Chair, Executive Committee Announced

November 20, 2024 |
1322 |
News Releases 2024, People and Awards

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20—Associated Builders and Contractors today announced that David Pugh, a partner at Bradley in Birmingham, Alabama, was elected 2025 chair of ABC National Board of Directors during its meeting at the association’s annual Leadership Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona.

"Nothing could be more thrilling than leading ABC in its 75th year, and as ABC’s first-ever associate member national chair, I am looking forward to the opportunity,” said Pugh. “Throughout those 75 years, ABC has consistently helped its members develop their people, win work and deliver that work safely, ethically and profitably. Whether exercising its leadership in government affairs, expanding and improving workforce development or relentlessly pursuing not only safety at the worksite but also the total human health and wellness of all workers, ABC has proven that the merit shop movement is for the betterment of the individual, the construction industry and the nation.”

“As a member-led organization, Associated Builders and Contractors truly represents the best of the best in the construction industry and the contractors that build the nation’s most enduring, innovative, high-quality construction projects,” said Michael Bellaman, ABC president and CEO. “Leading ABC into its 75th year, David, Chair-Elect ‘Murph’ Murphy, Secretary Brandon Mabile and every 2025 elected leader will continue to deliver on ABC’s primary purpose of being the voice of the merit shop and objectives to be transformational leaders in the construction industry."

The members of ABC’s 2025 Executive Committee, who will take office on Jan. 1, 2025, are:

Chair of the ABC board of directors: David Pugh, partner, Bradley, LLP, Birmingham, Alabama
Chair-elect: Thomas “Murph” Murphy, vice president of Aggregates Division, Power & Construction Group, Scottsville, New York
Secretary and South Central region vice chair: Brandon Mabile, corporate business development director, Performance Contractors Inc., Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Northeast region vice chair: Michael Bennett, vice president, CIANBRO, Pittsfield, Maine
Treasurer: Larry May, CPA, CVA, partner, Carr, Riggs & Ingram, Jackson, Mississippi
Immediate past chair: Buddy Henley, president, Henley Construction Co. Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland
Mid-Atlantic region vice chair: Lorri Grayson, partner and founder, GGA Construction, Middletown, Delaware
Mid-America region vice chair: Brett McWilliams, partner, Pride One Construction, Medina, Ohio
Southeast region vice chair: Kerrick Whisenant, president, Limestone Building Group LLC, Hartselle, Alabama
Mountain West region vice chair: Steve Grauer, regional vice president, Southwest Region of Hensel Phelps Construction, Phoenix
Pacific region vice chair: Greg Gutierrez, president and CEO, Truitt Corp., Bakersfield, California
Midwest region vice chair: Jim Ellis, vice president and COO, Price Electric, Robins, Iowa
Chapter presidents’ liaison: John Smaligo, president and CEO, ABC Oklahoma Chapter
ABC national president and CEO: Michael Bellaman

ABC Applauds Court Decision Upending DOL’s Unlawful Overtime Rule

November 15, 2024 |
2479 |
News Releases 2024, Policy, Politics and Policy

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15—Associated Builders and Contractors today applauded the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, which set aside the U.S. Department of Labor’s controversial 2024 final rule, Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees. The rule changed overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The court found that the Biden-Harris Labor Department’s 2024 overtime rule’s July 1, 2024, increase was unlawful as well as the scheduled Jan. 1, 2025, increase. Specifically, DOL’s final rule increased the minimum annual salary level threshold for exemption to $43,888 on July 1, and on Jan. 1 it was scheduled to increase to $58,656. In addition, salary thresholds would have been updated every three years starting on July 1, 2027.

“This decision is the correct one, and an important win for ABC members and the rest of the regulated community,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs. “It’s also no surprise. In 2017, this court permanently enjoined the DOL’s 2016 overtime rule on similar grounds, writing that the rule increased the minimum salary level threshold for exemption far beyond a level which the DOL is permitted to adopt. The court also found unlawful the automatic indexing provision in the new rule that would have further increased the salary threshold without the notice-and-comment rulemaking required by the Administrative Procedure Act.

“Some ABC members employ workers who would have lost their exempt status as of Jan. 1 because of the 2024 overtime rule’s scheduled increase,” said Brubeck. “This would have disrupted the construction industry, specifically harming small businesses, restricting employee workplace flexibility in setting schedules and hours, and hurting career advancement opportunities.

“The 2024 rule’s radical increase in the salary threshold for exemption would have also further complicated the current economic outlook,” said Brubeck. “Multiple industries, like construction, are grappling with uncertain economic conditions such as high interest rates, supply chain disruptions, materials price inflation and workforce shortages, all of which push operational costs ever higher. Specifically, ABC estimates that the construction industry must hire more than half a million additional workers in 2024 to meet demand. The rule’s triennial automatic indexing provision would have exacerbated its harmful impact on businesses and added to rampant inflation that is already harming the economy as a whole.”

On May 22, ABC joined a coalition of business groups in filing a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas challenging the DOL’s overtime rule.

On Nov. 7, 2023, ABC called on the DOL to withdraw the proposed rulemaking. ABC also signed onto coalition comments criticizing the overtime proposed rule, joining 244 national, state and local organizations representing employers from a wide range of private industries and public, nonprofit and education sectors.

In 2016, the Obama administration issued a final overtime rule that would have doubled the minimum salary level for exemption from $23,660 to $47,476 per year. ABC, along with several other business groups, sued the DOL in federal court and succeeded in blocking the rule from taking effect.