Nonresidential Construction Backlog Continued to Grow in July

The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reported on Tuesday (8-15-23) that according to an ABC member survey conducted between July 20th and August 4th, its Construction Backlog Indicator increased to a reading of 9.3 months for July. Year-over-year, the backlog is up 0.6 months.

The South remains the region with the largest backlog level, despite being the only region with a lower backlog year-over-year. Backlog gains in July were concentrated in the commercial and institutional category.

Adding additional background and his expert analysis, ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu said:

“Nonresidential construction backlog continues to expand, which is precisely what contractors had predicted six months ago. For many months, contractors have been signaling an expectation that demand for their services would continue to expand despite high and rising interest rates and a spate of regional bank failures.”