"Architectural and engineering services employment, a harbinger of possible future construction work, rose for the eighth month in a row but by only 200 jobs, putting the June total 22,500 (1.8%) ahead of June 2010. Average hourly earnings in construction matched May’s level of $25.36, up 13 cents (0.5%) over the year."

courtesy of ken simonson, the lead economic counsel for the association of general contractors. 

overall, the rest of the construction outlook is as follows:

"Construction employment totaled 5,513,000, seasonally adjusted, down 9,000 from May, up 2,000 from June 2010 and down 2,213,000 (29%) from the peak in April 2006. The unemployment rate for construction workers was 15.6%, not seasonally adjusted, down from 20.1% in June 2010. (BLS does not report seasonally adjusted rates by industry.) The combination of static employment and falling unemployment suggests that discouraged workers are retiring, going back to school or finding jobs in other industries rather than returning to construction—a bad omen for future industry expansion. Results were mixed by category. Heavy and civil engineering construction employment shrank for the second straight month, by 1,800, but was 23,000 (2.8%) higher than in June 2010, perhaps reflecting the recent end or tapering-off of Gulf Coast hurricane protection, military base realignment and stimulus projects. Residential building and specialty trade contractors shed a combined 9,900 jobs in June and 35,000 (1.7%) over 12 months. Nonresidential building and specialty trade contractors added a net 2,700 jobs in June and 14,200 (0.7%) over the year. 

Construction materials costs are showing divergent patterns. “The sharp increase in energy prices in [the first half of 2011] has prompted aggregate, cement, and concrete producers to push pricing, and it appears that the market (for now) is accepting some pricing,” investment advisor Thompson Research Group (www.thompsonresearchgroup.com) reported on Thursday, in summarizing a survey it conducted. “A reversal from the prior quarterly survey, all categories were seeing price increase acceptance in [the second quarter]. Overall, survey respondents report that price increases right now are not enough to offset higher overall costs.” Purchasing managers at manufacturing firms reported that several items important to construction were up in price in June, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported on July 1: aluminum, plastic products and titanium dioxide; copper and steel were listed as both up and down in price; rubber products were listed as up in price and in short supply. Stainless steel was listed as down in price. "