The death rates from drug overdose and suicide among the construction workforce have dropped according to recent data released by North America’s Building Trades Unions and CPWR — The Center for Construction Research and Training.
The faceoff between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate shows little progress in finding a compromise that would allow the Federal government to reopen shuttered offices as the impasse enters its third week. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) continues to bring the House passed continuing resolution(CR) up for a vote in an attempt to get the eight democrat votes needed to pass the measure. Democrats, however, insist they will not support a funding measure that fails to include an extension of subsidies for health insurance obtained through the Obamacare marketplace. Republicans want to pass a clean CR to reopen the government and address the health subsidies in separate legislation. House Speaker Mike Johnson, (R-La) continues to keep the House out of session while the shutdown is ongoing. The House last held votes on Sept. 19, when Republicans pushed through the CR that has stalled in the Senate.
Injections of federal funding, coupled with pent-up demand from the pandemic shutdowns, created a robust construction market in 2022 and 2023. In 2024, signs of market softening began and continues into 2025. The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reports that its backlog indicator, which reflects the work commercial and industrial contractors have coming in the months ahead, shows a drop in monthly backlog from 8.9 months in 2023 to 8.3 months in 2024 and has fluctuated around that number throughout the first half of 2025.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will continue to conduct inspections of ag operations and other workplaces, including construction sites, but will focus on criminal activity, White House border czar Tom Homan announced. After days of confusion over whether President Donald Trump had carved out an exception for farms and hospitality operations including hotels and restaurants, Homan told reporters, “The message is clear enough that we're going to continue doing worksite enforcement operations even on farms and hotels.” The ag industry has voiced concern about worksite raids at farm operations and construction sites. Part of that concern derives from ICE arresting workers beyond those for whom they have warrants.
What happened: Public highway, pavement, and street construction—the largest transportation market sector—is expected to grow by double digits for the second consecutive year, increasing 16 percent to $126 billion in 2024 from $108.6 billion in 2023, according to ARTBA Chief Economist Alison Premo Black’s annual market outlook.
Total construction spending in May increased by 0.9 percent from April and 2.4 percent year-over-year as gains in manufacturing construction and single-family homebuilding offset a downturn in major infrastructure segments, according to an analysis today by the Associated General Contractors of America of new federal data. Association officials cautioned that unclear and contradictory government regulations were slowing a variety of publicly funded projects and they urged the Biden administration to speed the awarding of contracts..
The Debt Bill includes provisions supported by the construction industry to expedite the federal permitting process. The Associated General Contractors of America’s chief executive officer, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued the following statement:
“The debt limit deal announced over the weekend includes significant reforms to a federal permitting process that has, until now, been one of the main impediments to progress on many vital infrastructure projects. These reforms will reduce the time it takes to complete environmental reviews without weakening any of the strong protections built into the process.
For 25 years, Jay Hansen has been the lead lobbyist for the asphalt paving industry and deeply involved in every major construction legislation before Congress. I asked Jay to share with LICA members some of his thoughts on Congress and the industry before his retirement later this month.
The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) continues to provide data on what is being seen around the country: construction spending is down while the workforce challenges remain.
The Associated General Contractors of America recently stated its concerns with expanded Buy America regulations. In a statement, AGC of America stated it supports sensible efforts to effectively incentivize the growth of America’s domestic manufacturing capacity. Instead, the Biden administration is doubling down on failed procurement policies with its new Buy America mandate. This is the kind of red tape initiative that undermines American’s confidence in the federal governments’ ability to effectively use their tax dollars.