Both processes derive their momentum from severely sinking state revenues coupled with the lack of a six-year highway bill from Washington which is keeping available funds at an level inadequate to even maintain existing roads.

Both processes help address the funds shortage. But while we see the need for them don’t forget a very old rule of political thumb: reversing practices like these when times are better is no slam dunk. We are liable to see gravelled rural roads and toll booths still being created long after the economy has recovered.  Just as we will surely hear some Washington politicians telling us that since there are now less paved roads to maintain, and since there are more income-providing toll booths, states and other agencies responsible for roads ands bridges don’t really need new money as much as they used to.

Anyway, check out USA Today’s story on the states fervor to toll.

Daily build rates at the Mt. Holly and Cleveland plants are rising sharply in response to strong 2010 order activity.

In April, DTNA and the UAW reached agreement on new labor contracts for the plants. The new contracts include baseline production commitments, which will provide job stability and security for plant employees.

DTNA, a recognized industry pacesetter for EPA10 readiness and performance, is reaping significant rewards for its forward-thinking business investments. Customers have placed orders for more than 21,400 EPA10 vehicles to date, including 16,565 Freightliner-brand trucks.

The APA is a coalition of the National Asphalt Pavement Association, the Asphalt Institute, and the State Asphalt Pavement Associations

“While asphalt pavements serve a national market, they are built by people who live and work in the areas that they serve,” commented Christie Barbee of the Carolina Asphalt Pavement Association, co-chair of the team that created the document.

“Asphalt jobs truly are Main Street jobs that cannot be outsourced overseas. Asphalt jobs are also green jobs, because asphalt is America’s most reused and recycled material, and virtually every worker in the industry is involved in reuse and recycling in some way,” she continued.

“The asphalt pavement industry is proud to support the people who rely on our country’s infrastructure as well as those who have made the industry a career choice,” said Patty Long of the National Asphalt Pavement Association, also a co-chair of the team. “With one-third of our nation’s infrastructure in poor condition and construction unemployment at twice the national rate, there is a need to put people back to work preserving our infrastructure. This paper breaks down the industry by the numbers, to show the important role that workers in the asphalt and contributing industries play in the lives of all Americans.”

The three-page document points out that an asphalt road could not be constructed without civil engineers, technologists, researchers, raw material suppliers, asphalt mix producers, truck drivers, aggregate producers, equipment manufacturing workers, construction equipment distributors, and many others who work behind the scenes. In addition, $6.2 billion of economic activity is generated for every $1 billion invested in federal highways.

The “American Power Act” (APA), released May 12, would mandate that oil companies producing transportation fuels purchase emissions allowances based on their volume of carbon production. These costs would be passed on to consumers. Transportation user fees are historically dedicated to the maintenance and improvement of the U.S. transportation system — roads, bridges, transit systems, bike paths, pedestrian routes, and related programs.

ARTBA estimates the new fee would generate roughly $20 billion each year from the on-road transportation sector but only return a maximum of $6.25 billion to transportation infrastructure investments, with a cap of $2.5 billion per year contributed to the federal Highway Trust Fund. The majority of transportation-generated revenue, however, would be used for a variety of non-transportation purposes, including federal government debt reduction; discounts for certain heating oil and electricity consumers; reforestation programs; subsidies for the energy production industry; and incentives for nuclear power.

“The U.S. transportation infrastructure network is in desperate need of maintenance and expansion across all modes,” said Pete Ruane, president & CEO of ARTBA, in a press statement. “Diverting transportation revenues away from our roads, bridges and transit systems at a time when they need attention the most will hurt our economy, inhibit our ability to reduce emissions from congestion, and limit our ability to compete in a global marketplace.”

ARTBA says it is working to ensure all revenue generated from transportation system use, as part of a climate change bill, is dedicated to improving the nation’s highway and public transportation network.

The plant’s employees were laid off in early April when the plant had a full inventory of product and not enough orders to get rid of it, so the plant was forced to trim its workforce and shut down its kilns until market and demand for the product picked up, according to an online report from the news source.

Craig Ryan, public relation manager for Lafarge, said things have improved enough to have the workers return to work, according to the report.

“We will have everybody back over the course of the next few weeks,” he said in the newspaper report. “We are going to do it in steps. We will have some beginning Monday and more from then on. We have to do it that way because we can’t start up all the kilns at one time.”

The layoff was anticipated to last longer than what it turned out to be, The Alpena News reported. Ryan said he is glad the workers are coming back and that business conditions have improved. He also said he hopes the improved business climate can continue, according to the report.

The company will host a conference call on Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET. The live conference call may be accessed by calling 877-693-6483 and 706-758-5304 for international listeners. The conference ID for the call is 67074808. A live Webcast will also be available via the Internet at http://www.graniteconstruction.com/investor-relations.

The conference call will be recorded and available for replay approximately two hours after the live call through May 18, 2010 by calling 800-642-1687 or 706-645-9291. The conference ID for the recording is 67074808. An audio archive of the call will also be available on the company’s Web site.

The report noted that the 1.3 percent decrease to $846.2 billion, the lowest since November 2002, followed a revised 1.4 percent drop in January that was more than twice as large as previously estimated, Commerce Department figures showed in Washington on April 1.

Temporary help services and health care continued to add jobs over the month.

Employment in federal government also rose, reflecting the hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010. Employment continued to decline in financial activities and in information.

Household Survey Data

In March, the number of unemployed persons was little changed at 15.0 million, and the unemployment rate remained at 9.7 percent. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (10.0 percent), adult women (8.0 percent), teenagers (26.1 percent), whites (8.8 percent), blacks (16.5 percent), and Hispanics (12.6 percent) showed little or no change in March. The jobless rate for Asians was 7.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) increased by 414,000 over the month to 6.5 million. In March, 44.1 percent of unemployed persons were jobless for 27 weeks or more. (See table A-12.)

The civilian labor force participation rate (64.9 percent) and the employment population ratio (58.6 percent) continued to edge up in March. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons working part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) increased to 9.1 million in March.

These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-8.)

About 2.3 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in March, compared with 2.1 million a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.)

These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)

Among the marginally attached, there were 1.0 million discouraged workers in March, up by 309,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.)

Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.3 million persons marginally attached to the labor force had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-16.)

Establishment Survey Data

In March, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 162,000. Job growth continued in temporary help services and in health care. Federal government employment increased due to the hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010. Job losses continued in financial activities and in information. (See table B-1.)

Temporary help services added 40,000 jobs in March. Since September 2009, temporary help services employment has risen by 313,000.

Employment in health care continued to increase in March (27,000), with the largest gains occurring in ambulatory health care services (16,000) and in nursing and residential care facilities (9,000).

In March, employment in mining increased by 8,000. Monthly job gains in mining have averaged 6,000 during the past five months.

Employment in federal government was up over the month, reflecting the hiring of 48,000 temporary workers for the decennial census.

Manufacturing employment continued to trend up in March (17,000); the industry has added 45,000 jobs in the first 3 months of 2010. During the month, job gains were concentrated in fabricated metal products (9,000) and in machinery (6,000).

Employment in construction held steady (15,000) in March. The industry had lost an average of 72,000 jobs per month in the prior 12 months.

Throughout the month, employment changed little in transportation and warehousing, leisure and hospitality, retail trade, and wholesale trade.

In March, financial activities shed 21,000 jobs, with the largest losses occurring in insurance carriers and related activities (-9,000). Employment in the information industry decreased by 12,000.

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was up by 0.1 hour to 34.0 hours in March. The manufacturing workweek for all employees increased by 0.2 hour to 39.9 hours, and factory overtime was up by 0.1 hour during the month. In March, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.2 hour to 33.3 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

In March, average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls fell by 2 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $22.47, following a 4-cent gain in February.

During the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 1.8 percent. In March, average hourly earnings of private production and nonsupervisory employees fell by 2 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $18.90. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for January was revised from -26,000 to +14,000, and the change for February was revised from -36,000 to -14,000.

The Employment Situation for April is scheduled to be released on Friday, May 7, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

The grants, from the Federal Highway Administration’s “On the Job Training/Supportive Services” program, will fund pre-apprenticeships and training centers in California for women, minorities, veterans, and disadvantaged individuals pursuing careers in the highway construction industry.

“These grants will help to create opportunities during these tough economic times. We are providing crucial job training to people that will help lay the groundwork for jobs and drive California on the road to economic recovery,” said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in a written statement.

California’s grant recipients are the following:

• The California Disabled Veteran  Business Alliance in Sacramento received $367,483 to provide education and training for veterans seeking skilled highway construction jobs.
• The Center for Training and Careers in the cities and counties of San Jose, Alameda County, Fresno County, Los Angeles County and San Joaquin County participating in the “Foundation Builders-Working Together to Build a Better Foundation” program received a total of $796,415. These funds will provide outreach, recruitment, orientation, work readiness training, supportive services and placement assistance.
• The Century Community Training Program in Los Angeles received $290,000, which will provide construction industry skills training in highway, street and bridge construction, placement, and supportive services to increase participation by women, minorities and disadvantaged individuals in highway construction.
• The Family Management Matters ”Warriors Career Bridge” program in Anaheim and Orange County received $256,620. These funds will establish communication channels between veteran organizations and public works employers to identify the veteran’s skill gaps. These funds will also work toward implementing an internship/training program to prepare veterans for careers in public works and transportation infrastructure development and maintenance.
• The Northern California Teamsters Apprentice Training and Education Trust Fund in Rancho Murieta received $208,543 to provide participants with a five-week commercial driver license course, plus an additional two weeks of specific construction vehicle training.
• The Pacific Gateway in Long Beach received $230,789 to provide outreach and recruitment, orientation, assessment, construction-related training, on-the-job training, intensive placement activities, supportive services, job referral, job placement, and job retention assistance in high paying, skilled highway construction positions.
• The Sacramento Employment and Training Agency received $338,590 to provide women, minorities and other disadvantaged individuals construction industry skills training and support to increase their participation in highway construction.
• The United Job Creation Council Re-entry Construction Employment Project in Los Angeles received $254,840, which will be used to gain access to job preparation, training, and retention opportunities by providing highway construction industry skills training, tools and equipment.

“These grants will provide people the required skills to find jobs in highway construction and create a trained workforce to improve our transportation infrastructure for generations to come,” said Caltrans Director Randy Iwasaki in a Caltrans press release.

Under Governor Schwarzenegger’s leadership, California leads the nation with $2.54 billion in Recovery Act funding obligated to 912 highway, local street, and job training transportation projects statewide. For more information on the Recovery Act, to go http://recovery.ca.gov/

Why is this simple equation not fully understood in Washington? Maybe it is understood but not accepted. Sometimes its possible to see Congress as a group of people standing out in the rain arguing about the best way to raise the umbrella.

The jobs bill will create jobs, even its critics concede it. But how many is one key question. Another is whether a better bill — in fact one that existed before it got shredded and pasted back together — would create far more jobs. The key to the second argument is that infrastructure spending is a proven job creator, and it almost got the chance to prove it, big time.

 New America Foundation Analyst Samuel Sherraden says the bill was stripped of infrastructure investment to the point where it will create far, far fewer jobs than it might have.  An effective original plan to use infrastructure spending to create jobs was watered down to allow far less efficient tax credits according to Sherraden, who writes in a CNN opinion piece.

According to a recent study by the Milken Institute, every $1 billion in infrastructure investments will create 25,000 jobs. By these estimates, an infrastructure package of $300 billion would create 7.5 million jobs, far surpassing the Senate’s tax credit in terms of number of jobs created for the buck.

Read Sherraden’s opinion here. Check out the Milken Institute and its report here, and see what the New America Foundation is here.