SANTA CRUZ – Not often do Graniterock People have their jobs watched closely by the Golf Channel.
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UNION CITY – Barry Short lives most of his life on the road – from the Sierra Nevada mountains to the California coast and high desert of Arizona.
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WATSONVILLE – There’s a group of guys in the Monterey Bay area that own and operate their jobs in a way you don’t see in the rest of the Construction Division.
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Facing expiration of the latest extension of highway spending authorization on Saturday, March 31, the House and Senate passed a 90-day extension (the 9th) allowing for funding of the highway and transit programs and collection of the federal motor fuels taxes (the gas tax) to continue through the end of June. The bill will now go to the President who is expected to sign it before the current extension expires. With both the House and Senate scheduled to go into recess on Friday for the next two weeks, the action was necessary to avoid a shutdown of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and a halt of reimbursements to states for ongoing highway construction contracts.
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The Federal Reserve realizes that the U. S. economic recovery is not likely to strengthen appreciably until residential construction recovers. The recent agreement between state attorney generals and major U.S. banks to resolve disputes regarding the handling of housing foreclosures is a plus. Now progress can be made in dealing with the shadow inventory of housing that is in default or mortgages that remain unpaid. In communities with a high number of shadow inventory homes, it is very difficult to get the housing construction sector started again because buyers fear that home prices will go down when the shadow inventory is put on the market.
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When an organization extends over more than one hundred years, many opportunities arise to reflect on the achievement.  I am often asked, “So what lessons are there from the last 112 years for you and Graniterock People?”  It’s a good question.
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The U. S. Economy added 243,000 jobs in January – the fastest rate since April, 2011. The increase appears to be a solid one based on economic information collected in government surveys. The official government unemployment rate declined from 8.5% to 8.3%. Manufacturing added 50,000 jobs and 21,000 new jobs were added to construction. In a separate household survey, a huge 847,000 increase in employment for January was found. It takes some months for employment data to shake-out but all point to a continued recovery with lowered danger of a double-dip recession. A better job outlook may encourage disappointed job seekers to return to the job market pushing up the unemployment rate.
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