Now that President Obama has signed both the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, contractors have two separate but related issues to focus on. First, what are the requirements, risks and opportunities for employers? Second, how will the legislation change the demand for different kinds of structures?

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On Thursday, Congress completed action on a reconciliation bill that modifies the newly enacted health care legislation and also replaces private lending for college student loans with direct lending from the U.S. Department of Education. President Obama is expected to sign the bill on Tuesday. The reconciliation bill eliminates the discriminatory definition of small construction employer, defining all small employers as firms with 50 or fewer full-time equivalent employees. "Health-care real estate players unanimously agreed that the new law would sooner or later result in increased demand for both on- and off-campus outpatient medical office buildings (MOBs)," In the Pipeline, an online newsletter from real-estate research firm CoStar reported on Thursday. "Other potential impacts mentioned by health-care property professionals include the following: The bill places limits on new or expanded physician-owned hospitals, a major source of health care development in some parts of the country, including the fast-growing Texas market….Charitable hospitals face more verification and accountability for the "community benefit" they provide in exchange for their tax-exempt status, possibly translating into demand for off-campus facilities. Nearly 60 million square feet of new medical office supply could eventually be built to meet the demand, based on a standard industry multiplier of 1.9 square feet of new MOB space for each new outpatient brought into the system, according to Jeffrey H. Cooper, executive managing director with global real estate services firm Savills LLC in New York. While not everyone completely agrees with that formula, virtually all said that developers are among the likely winners. Most of them also agreed that hospital systems will benefit, at least in the short run, as more insured patients come into the system and help offset the costs of treating uninsured people who lack the means to pay." One contractor said the student loan provision led an education company to cancel an office project.

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ALASKA IS ONLY STATE TO ADD CONSTRUCTION JOBS BETWEEN FEBRUARY 2009 AND 2010, WHILE 12 STATES POST MONTH-TO-MONTH GAINS

Ongoing Construction Job Losses Show Need for Expansion of Infrastructure Bonding Programs that Is Investing Over $70 Billion in Infrastructure Projects

Construction employment in forty-nine states and the District of Columbia declined between February 2009 and February 2010 according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America.  As construction job losses extend into their third year, the new data highlights the need to expand the Build America Bond program, trade group officials noted.

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AGC has compiled tables of PPIs for construction materials and segments as well as analysis. The data is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly report and covers over 50 construction specific data series.

President Obama today signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the health care bill passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve and by the House late on Sunday night. The impact on construction will depend in part on whether a package of changes to the Senate bill that the House passed separately on Sunday becomes law. The Senate is debating those changes now. The Act generally exempts employers with fewer than 50 employees from some coverage mandates or penalties; however, a provision introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) sets the threshold at fewer than five employees for construction employers. The pending bill would restore construction to parity with other industries.

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ONLY 9 OUT OF 337 METROPOLITAN AREAS ADD CONSTRUCTION JOBS BETWEEN JANUARY 2009 AND 2010 AS INDUSTRY PAIN CONTINUES

Phoenix Loses Most Jobs While Steubenville-Weirton, Ohio-West Virginia Experience Largest Percentage Decline, Eau Claire, Wisconsin Has Largest Increase in Construction Employment

Construction employment continued to shrink in most American communities as 313 out of 337 metro areas lost construction jobs between January 2009 and January 2010 according to a new analysis of federal employment figures released today by the Associated General Contractors of America.  The figures underscore just how hard hit the construction industry has been nationwide, association officials noted.

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Seasonally adjusted payroll employment increased in January in 31 states and the District of Columbia, decreased in 18 states and remained unchanged in Idaho, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Wednesday. Compared to January 2009, employment fell everywhere except in Alaska (1,900 jobs or 0.6%), North Dakota (1,300 jobs or 0.4%) and D.C. (500 jobs or 0.1%). Seasonally adjusted construction employment rose from December in 18 states plus D.C., fell in 30 and was unchanged in South Dakota. However, unseasonable weather in November through January may have distorted normal employment patterns. Compared to a year earlier, construction employment fell everywhere. The smallest 12-month percentage losses were in North Dakota, -1%; Nebraska and Alaska, -4% each; South Dakota and Arkansas, -6% each. The largest losses were in Nevada, -30%; Arizona, -26%; Colorado, -22%; Idaho, -21%; and Florida, -20%. (BLS combines mining and logging with construction in reporting data for Delaware, D.C., Hawaii, Maryland, Nebraska, South Dakota and Tennessee.) BLS also revised prior-year data "in accordance with annual practices."

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CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYMENT DECLINES IN EVERY STATE, D.C. BETWEEN JANUARY 2009 AND JANUARY 2010; 38 STATES, D.C. SEE DOUBLE-DIGIT DROPS

California Loses the Most Construction Jobs, Nevada Has Highest Percentage Decline & North Dakota Loses the Least Jobs, Has Smallest Percentage Decline in Construction Employment  

The construction workforce was smaller in every state and the District of Columbia in January 2010 than it was just 12 months earlier, according to a new analysis of federal data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America.  The data indicated just how widespread the construction downturn is, association officials said, noting that 38 states and D.C. experienced a double digit percentage drop in construction employment.

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Materials prices are on the rise. The retail price of on-highway diesel fuel hit a 16-month high of $2.90 per gallon, 86 cents (42 percent) higher than a year ago, the Energy Information Administration reported on Monday. Copper and aluminum futures prices on Monday also neared the highest level since the autumn of 2008. Nucor announced on Monday that it was raising rebar prices $25 per ton immediately and a further $50 on April 1. Wallboard manufacturers announced in February that they would raise prices 20 percent on March 15. Lumber and plywood prices have also touched multi-year highs recently.

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The unemployment rate for construction workers jumped to 27.1% in February (industry jobless rates are not seasonally adjusted), from 21.4% a year earlier, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. The rate for all workers was 10.4% (9.7%, seasonally adjusted), up from 8.9% in February 2009. Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 36,000, seasonally adjusted, but would have risen if not for a 64,000-job decline in construction. Unusually widespread and severe storms and snow cover may have added to the total, but BLS noted the construction number was "about in line with the average monthly job loss over the prior six months. Job losses were concentrated in nonresidential building (-10,000) and among nonresidential specialty trade contractors (-35,000)." Since peaking at 7,725,000 in June 2006, construction employment has fallen by 2.2 million (28%) to 5,555,000 in February, a 14-year low. All five construction categories lost jobs for the 1- and 12-month periods: nonresidential specialty trade contractors, -1.7% and -16%; nonresidential building, -1.4% and -15%; heavy and civil engineering construction, -1.1% and -13%; residential building, -0.9% and -15%; and residential specialty trade contractors, -0.3% and -10%. Employment in architectural and engineering services, an indicator of current design activity for future construction, fell 0.2% and 6.8%. Average hourly earnings in construction rose to $25.30, up 68 cents (2.8%) from a year earlier. The all-industry gain was 41 cents (1.9%).

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