Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. will sponsor the Build America Awards program, AGC announced recently. The firm will host this year’s awards program, which will recognize the most challenging and successful construction projects of 2011, association officials noted.

Construction employment at the state level was mixed for the year and month as 25 states and the District of Columbia lost jobs between July and August while 26 states and D.C. added jobs between August 2010 and August 2011, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of Labor Department data.  The relatively even divide between gainers and losers reflects continued weak demand for construction services that has been contributing to flat employment levels for much of the past year, association officials noted.

The amount contractors pay for a range of key construction materials declined in August, but contractors continue to be squeezed as materials cost increases have outstripped the price of finished buildings over the past year, according to an analysis of producer price index figures released today by AGC.

AGC will present The Big Build event, a hands-on family festival of tools, trucks and building arts, at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 17 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

The chief executive officer of AGC, Stephen Sandherr, testified at a public hearing hosted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In his testimony, Sandherr detailed AGC’s opposition to 3 percent government withholding, outlining the unfair burden it places on contractors. Sandherr proceeded to request that the IRS delay the enforcement of the withholding and recommended that the IRS provide additional guidance to assist pass-through and joint venture taxpayers comply with 3 percent government withholding.

Stephen E. Sandherr, the chief executive officer of AGC, spoke at a media event in Washington, D.C. with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. During his speech, Sandherr outlined the benefits of infrastructure investments, and called for congressional support of the proposal.

Construction employment showed little movement in August, dipping 5,000 below the July total but remaining 4,000 higher than a year ago, according to an analysis of new federal employment data released by AGC. Association officials said the numbers are consistent with a pattern of small gains followed by slight decreases as demand for construction remains weak.

The nation’s rural roads and bridges are rapidly deteriorating, causing the fatality rate along back roads to triple the national average for highway fatalities, according to a new report on rural road conditions. The report’s findings prompted members of the business, construction and transportation communities to call for passage of long-delayed federal legislation to fund road repairs and bridge maintenance.

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 AGC. 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 AGC.