The Blog

WASHINGTON, April 11—Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator declined to 8.7 months in March, according to an ABC member survey conducted March 20 to April 3. The reading is 0.4 months higher than in March 2022.

Rarely does a day go by in which the leaders of ABC MA companies don’t strategize about how to find and retain the qualified workers we need to meet the demand for our services. Meeting the challenge will require us to broaden our search for talent.

WASHINGTON, April 7—The construction industry lost 9,000 jobs on net in March, 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 grown by 196,000 jobs, an increase of 2.5%.

In February 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (the "NLRB") issued a decision, McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58, that impacts the use of routine confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions common in many separation agreements. Notably, this decision applies to any employees and employers who are covered by the National Labor Relations Act in the private sector, whether or not the employees are represented by a union.

One of the biggest challenges our industry faces is finding enough qualified workers to meet the demand for construction services. In that environment, we don’t have the luxury of ignoring any pool of potential talent. ABC MA recognizes this fact – it’s why we’re conducting an ongoing diversity survey with proceeds from a state grant.

Gov. Maura Healey wants to separate housing and economic development in the state's bureaucracy, mostly to give housing production the enhanced focus she says it desperately needs. But Healey doesn't want to completely shatter the connection between the two topics.

If we take a moment to think about when we started in the construction industry, most of us will shake our heads at the thought of how much things have changed. Technology has transformed our lives in recent decades, and it’s unlikely that it’s changed anything more than the way we make a living.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6—The not seasonally adjusted national construction unemployment rate dropped 0.6% in December 2022 from a year ago, down from 5% to 4.4%, according to a state-by-state analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released today by Associated Builders and Contractors. Thirty-two states had lower unemployment rates over the same period, Iowa and Missouri were unchanged and 16 states were higher.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3—The construction industry added 25,000 jobs on net in January, 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 294,000 jobs, an increase of 3.9%.

Boston, MA, January 23, 2023-The Massachusetts Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors today announced the establishment of a student chapter at Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology, part of the ABC National Student Chapter Network. The NSCN connects ABC chapters to local colleges and universities with construction-related degree programs with the goal of building the construction management pipeline and mentoring future leaders of the construction industry.