Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reports its Construction Backlog Indicator remained unchanged at 8.5 months in September, according to an ABC member survey conducted September 22 to October 6. The reading is down 0.1 months since September 2024.
Over the past year, backlog has declined in the commercial, institutional, and heavy industrial categories while increasing substantially in the infrastructure category.
ABC’s Construction Confidence Index reading for sales declined in September (59.9 from 60.4 in August), while the readings for profit margins (52.3 from 51.9) and staffing (60.3 from 59.9) both increased. The readings for all three components remain above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations for growth over the next six months.
“Falling industry-wide employment, a dearth of job openings, and ongoing decreases in construction spending have not diminished ABC contractor member backlog or confidence,” says ABC chief economist Anirban Basu. “This stability primarily stems from two sources. First, public sector activity has held up far better than its private counterpart, and that is supporting elevated backlog in the infrastructure category.
The second source of industry momentum is, unsurprisingly, data centers. Approximately one in five contractors was under contract to work on a data center project in September. While that’s a slightly lower share than in August, contractors that have data center work had significantly higher backlog (12 months) than those who did not (8 months).”
