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Construction employment increased in 136 out of 337 metropolitan areas between July 2010 and July 2011, declined in 148 and stayed level in 53, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released by ��ѻ��ý. Association officials noted that the local employment data remains mostly stagnant amid declines in publicly-funded construction activity.

The number of construction fatalities declined by nearly 10 percent between 2009 and 2010 and by almost 40 percent during the past five years, according to an analysis of new federal data prepared by ��ѻ��ý. 

��ѻ��ý and the National Association of Surety Bond Producers (NASBP) released a new, revised edition of the construction and surety industries’ primer on the surety bond product, The Basic Bond Book.  The construction and surety industries have relied for two decades on this resource to introduce contract surety bonds to those entering the construction and surety industries. 

According to an analysis by ��ѻ��ý of state employment data released by the Labor Department, construction employment increased in 26 states between July 2010 and July 2011 and during the past month.

The agency’s announcement that it is delaying its effort to protect the Earth from dirt gives temporary relief for struggling contractors.  ��ѻ��ý's chief executive officer, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued a statement in response to the decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withdraw proposed “numeric limits” on the amount of dirt the agency will allow in stormwater from construction sites.

The amount contractors pay for construction materials and charge for completed projects both increased in July, as firms were finally able to charge more for work, according to an analysis of producer price index figures released by ��ѻ��ý.

Today, on 8/11, ��ѻ��ý joins the rest of the underground damage prevention community to remind everyone that is involved in an excavation project to follow the key steps to safe digging and damage prevention - dialing 811. Homeowner, landscapers, and other casual excavators must join professional excavation contractors in dialing 811 before any digging project.

��ѻ��ý led the construction industry’s effort to restart several billion dollars worth of airport construction projects.  The projects were halted in late July after Congress failed to pass an extension to federal aviation legislation because of a dispute over proposed changes to airline union voting rules and subsidies for air service to rural communities.  Without the legislation in place, the Federal Aviation Administration was unable to fund billions of dollars worth of airport improvement projects.The association worked to educate the media and members of Congress about the economic impacts of cancelling so many airport projects.  ��ѻ��ý chief economist Ken Simonson explained to Reuters, CNN, National Public Radio, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and many other reporters that the construction halt will cost 24,000 construction jobs, and threaten another 11,000 jobs in related construction supply businesses and 35,000 jobs in the broader economy.[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"4558","attributes":{"class":"media-image alignnone size-medium wp-image-9664","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"300","height":"167","title":"LaGuardia Event","alt":""}}]]Meanwhile, ��ѻ��ý CEO Steve Sandherr participated in an Aug. 1 media event with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood at New York’s LaGuardia Airport to make the case that construction workers shouldn’t have to suffer because Washington can’t resolve an unrelated policy dispute. And ��ѻ��ý’s legislative team met with members of Congress to resolve the issue.Thanks in large part to ��ѻ��ý’s efforts, Congress enacted new temporary extension to the aviation legislation on Aug. 5, helping restart billions of dollars worth of airport construction projects.  The extension, however, does little more than put off the disagreements among lawmakers over the broader reauthorization of the FAA, which has been stalled over labor issues as well as funding levels and subsidies to rural airports. This means the FAA may face a similar shutdown threat when this short-term extension expires on Sept. 16.��ѻ��ý will continue to work towards passage of a multiyear FAA reauthorization bill. You can send a message to your legislators through ��ѻ��ý’s web site urging Congress to complete action on this long overdue legislation.For more information, contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org.

Construction employment inched up by 8,000 jobs to a 15-month high in July but remained far below the peak set in early 2006, according to an analysis of new federal employment data released by ��ѻ��ý.

��ѻ��ý and ��ѻ��ý of Michigan held a media event in Detroit to highlight the fact that the city’s construction job growth reached an 11-year high as the local industry added 1,800 construction jobs in the past year.