Merit Shop Apprenticeship Program Enrollment Up 60%, Growing Faster Than Unions

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Nonunion apprenticeship programs and participants were responsible for the vast majority of growth in construction registered apprenticeship programs, or RAPs, over the past five years, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Department of Labor data. “The DOL data show that ABC and merit shop contractors are leading the industry in growing both registered apprenticeship programs and innovative new workforce development pipelines,” said Kristen Swearingen, ABC vice president of government affairs. “ABC supports the DOL building on its success by streamlining and simplifying apprenticeship regulations while providing incentives for better RAP performance, which will attract new sponsors and employers to […]

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ABC Report: 36% of Contractor Members Utilize Drones on Jobsites

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Associated Builders and Contractors released the findings of its Drone Usage report, a survey ABC conducted of its contractor members in May 2026. Notably, 36.1% of ABC contractor member respondents reported that they fly drones. Other report findings include: Drones are most often used for site progress monitoring (80.8%), marketing and media (77.5%) and inspections and mapping (50%). Investment levels in drones vary widely, but 62% report investing between $1,000 and $10,000. DJI manufacturers the overwhelming majority of ABC contractor members’ primary drones (97.1%). The biggest challenges in adopting drone technology include regulatory and compliance issues (53.5%), training and staffing (43.4%) […]

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ABC: Construction Materials Prices Flat in July, Up 7.4% From a Year Ago

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Overall construction and nonresidential input prices both increased 0.1% in July compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors’ analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data. Overall construction input prices are 7.4% higher than one year ago, while nonresidential construction input prices are 7.2% higher. Prices decreased in 2 of the 3 energy subcategories last month. Crude petroleum prices decreased 11.9%, and unprocessed energy materials decreased 7.4%. Natural gas prices were up 10.4% in July. “Construction input prices were virtually unchanged in July, but that relatively tame behavior can be traced to […]

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June Nonresidential Construction Spending Up on Strength of Data Centers

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National nonresidential construction spending rose 0.1% in June, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.277 trillion. Spending was up on a monthly basis in 8 of 16 nonresidential subcategories. Both public and private nonresidential spending were up 0.1% in June. Private nonresidential construction spending was down nearly 5% from a year ago. “Through April 2025, private nonresidential construction spending ascended to $806.1 billion on a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis, an all-time high,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Since then, […]

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Every State Had Construction Unemployment Rate Below 10% in June

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The national June not seasonally adjusted construction unemployment rate was 4.7%, a 1.3% increase from June 2025, according to a state-by-state analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released by Associated Builders and Contractors. The analysis found that every state had a construction unemployment rate below 10% and all but three states (Connecticut, New Jersey and Rhode Island) had a rate below 7%. National NSA payroll construction employment was 59,000 higher than in June 2025, its 14th straight month of year-over-year increases below 100,000. Seasonally adjusted payroll construction employment was 8.3 million, or 9.5% above its pre-pandemic peak of 7.6 […]

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