Responding to growing interest from students north of Boston for college-level technical and trade programs, and increasing demand from industry for skilled employees, Franklin Cummings Tech announced the launch of its new campus location in Billerica, Massachusetts.

Construction input prices increased 2.2% in September compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data. Nonresidential construction input prices increased 2.3% for the month.

It comes as no surprise to ABC MA members that a new study finds that union-only project labor agreements (PLAs) add an average of 16.2 percent to the cost of public construction projects. The main reason for the PLA premium is simple: when you reduce competition, costs rise.  PLAs require that all jobsite labor on a project come from unions, and according to unionstats.com, 82.7 percent of Massachusetts construction workers choose not to affiliate with a union.

Associated Builders and Contractors’ Construction Backlog Indicator increased to 8.7 months in September, according to an ABC member survey conducted Sept. 21 to Oct. 5. The reading is up 0.2 months on both a monthly and yearly basis.

Associated Builders and Contractors has released its sixth annual construction technology report on health and safety tech and innovation, which spotlights how contractors are leveraging technology, data and collaboration to address the industry’s health and safety challenges while creating measurable improvements in workforce performance and operational excellence. ABC released the report during Careers in Construction Month to celebrate construction safety professionals’ commitment to protecting workers.

Ahead of Careers in Construction Month, Associated Builders and Contractors has highlighted new research showing that multiskilled construction crews can reduce completion time by about 30% and increase production by 37% to 50% on construction scopes where multiple trades must work in tight sequence. The findings come from controlled field trials detailed in the Simplar Foundation’s Improving Productivity in Multi-Trade Construction Workflows, the second report from the first-ever national multiskilling dataset.

The construction industry had 251,000 job openings on the last day of August, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. JOLTS defines a job opening as any unfilled position for which an employer is actively recruiting. Industry job openings decreased by 48,000 last month but are up by 38,000 from the same time last year.

The construction industry added 11,000 jobs on net in September, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has increased by 109,000 jobs, or 1.3%.

Construction input prices increased 1.2% in August compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data. Nonresidential construction input prices also increased 1.2% for the month.

Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator rebounded to 8.5 months in August, according to an ABC member survey conducted Aug. 20 to Sept. 4. The reading is up 0.5 months from July and unchanged on a year-ago basis.