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 AGC.

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 AGC.

Construction employment increased in 149 out of 337 metropolitan areas between June 2010 and June 2011, declined in 141 and stayed level in 47, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released by AGC.

Construction spending totaled $772 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) in June, up 0.2% from the rate in May but down 4.7% from June 2010, the Census Bureau reported on Monday. The estimates for May and April were revised upward by $17 billion (2.2%) and $10 billion (1.4%), respectively.

Construction employment declined in 27 states  between June 2010 and 2011 and dropped in 22 states and D.C. between May and June, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of state employment data released by the Labor Department. 

Seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment increased in June in 26 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in 24 states, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday. Compared with June 2010, employment increased in 40 states and decreased in 10 states plus D.C. Construction employment improved in 25 states between May and June, declined in 22 states plus D.C., and was unchanged in Alaska, Alabama and Oklahoma, an analysis by AGC showed.

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by only 18,000, seasonally adjusted, in June, and the gains for April and May were pared by a combined 44,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today.

Construction spending in May totaled $753 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, the sixth consecutive monthly decrease (following downward revisions to April and March data that initially both showed increases) and the lowest figure since 1999, the Census Bureau reported on Friday.

Construction spending fell for the sixth straight month in May, touching an 11-year low, as shrinking public outlays and residential construction swamped a rise in private nonresidential work, according to AGC's analysis of new Census Bureau data.

Construction employment increased in 120 out of 337 metropolitan areas between May 2010 and May 2011, declined in 162 and stayed level in 55, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released Tuesday by AGC.