Construction jobs record set in April
Washington, D.C. - U.S. construction employment set a record for the 15th straight month in April, said the Associated General Contractors from monthly employment numbers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

"The construction industry has added jobs more than twice as fast as the 1.5 percent growth rate for total non-farm payroll employment," said Ken Simonson, the AGC's chief economist. "Furthermore, all five BLS construction employment categories are up by more than 1.5 percent. Even homebuilders have continued to add workers, despite an expectation that housing would have tapered off by now. There is evidently still a backlog of sold but unbuilt houses."

BLS figures showed seasonally adjusted payroll employment in construction reached 7.51 million in April, a gain of 267,000, or 3.7 percent, from a year ago.

Simonson said he expects residential employment to flatten and eventually decline slightly, "but nonresidential activity seems to be gaining momentum." The Census Bureau reported this month that private nonresidential construction spending was 10.6 percent higher in the first quarter of 2006 than the first three months of 2005, while private residential and public construction each grew 8.8 percent.

In addition, he said "construction labor costs have remained tame in spite of the big employment growth. The BLS report says the average wage in construction rose just 1.5 percent over the last 12 months, in contrast to the 3.8 percent gain for all private-sector production workers.

He said construction faces much higher materials cost increases than the economy as a whole, and "availability of some materials may be a problem."

Who protects the plumber?
[PAI)--A union plumber-turned-plumbing safety expert may write plumbing health standards for the world. The Northwest Labor Press reports that the World Health Organization approached Oregon Plumbers Local 290 business representative Ron Murray with the request.

Murray, who is also on the board of the American Society for Sanitary Engineers, gave a presentation on health hazards of plumbing--notably bloodborne pathogens in sewage treatment plants--to an international conference on plumbing health and safety, in Beijing, China. Local 290, he explained, discovered high rates of Hepatitis C among its members in the plants and with the help of a state grant, created a training program on how to minimize the risk.

The WHO heard his presentation in Beijing and asked him to write an international standard for safety for plumbers who have to respond to natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina. "Plumbers protect the health of the nation, but no one's protecting the health of the plumber. When the world comes to you and says it needs your help, what can you say?" Murray asked.