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.

Contractors keep getting sideswiped by rising materials prices. Early this year, diesel, steel and copper prices all soared. Recently, plastics, asphalt and gypsum costs have jumped. Meanwhile, contractors have largely held the line on bid prices. What will be next to climb? What might back down? On August 3, 2011, join AGC’s Chief Economist Ken Simonson, John Cross of the American Institute of Steel Construction, and Jason Schenkler of Prestige Economics, LLC, to  find out where they think prices are headed, what to watch for, and why.

Seasonally adjusted new construction starts in May dropped 6% from April’s level, McGraw-Hill Construction (MHC) reported on Thursday, based on data it collected.

Seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment increased in 22 states from April to May, decreased in 27 states and the District of Columbia, and was unchanged in Idaho, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday.

Although materials costs continued to accelerate in May, they may be about to hit the brakes. That’s what futures markets and price reporting services are signaling, anyway.