ABC Construction Backlog Indicator Holds Steady in September

On Tuesday, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reported that its Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) held steady at 8.5 months in September. Year-over-year, backlog was down 0.1 months. The member survey was conducted between September 22 and October 6.

Over the past year, backlog has declined in the commercial and institutional and heavy industrial categories, while rising sharply in the infrastructure category.

ABC’s Construction Confidence Index showed that the sales component fell in September, while readings for profit margins and staffing increased. All three components remained above the 50 threshold, indicating expectations for growth over the next six months.

Commenting on the report, ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu said:

“Falling industrywide employment, a dearth of job openings, and ongoing decreases in construction spending have not diminished ABC contractor member backlog or confidence. 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 1 in 5 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 (12.0 months) than those who did not (8.0 months).”