ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator is the only economic indicator that reflects the amount of work that will be performed by commercial and industrial construction contractors in the months ahead. The Construction Confidence Index is a diffusion index that signals construction contractors’ expectations for sales, profit margins and staffing levels. View the methodology for both indicators. 

 

News Releases

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News Releases

WASHINGTON, August 9—Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator fell 0.2 months in July and stands at 8.7 months, according to an ABC member survey conducted July 20 to Aug. 3. The reading is up 0.2 months from July 2021.

WASHINGTON, July 12— Associated Builders and Contractors reports today that its Construction Backlog Indicator fell 0.1 months in June and stands at 8.9 months, according to an ABC member survey conducted June 21 to July 5. The reading is up 0.4 months from June 2021.

WASHINGTON, June 14—Associated Builders and Contractors reports today that its Construction Backlog Indicator increased to nine months in May from 8.8 months in April, according to an ABC member survey conducted May 17 to June 3. The reading is up one month from May 2021.

WASHINGTON, May 10—Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator increased to 8.8 months in April, according to an ABC member survey conducted from April 20 to May 4. The reading is up 0.9 months from April 2021.

WASHINGTON, April 28—The U.S. economy contracted at a 1.4% annualized rate during the first quarter of 2022. Investment in nonresidential structures declined at an annual rate of 0.9% during the quarter and has contracted nine of the past 10 quarters, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15—Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator declined to 8.0 months in January, according to an ABC member survey conducted Jan. 20 to Feb. 4. The reading is down 0.2 months from December 2021, but up 0.5 months from January 2021.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8—Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator declined to 7.2 months in November, a decrease of 0.5 months from October’s reading, according to an ABC member survey conducted from Nov. 20 to Dec. 2. Backlog is 1.7 months lower than in November 2019.

WASHINGTON, March 19—Confidence among U.S. construction industry leaders generally improved in January, consistent with the burgeoning momentum of the U.S. economy during the early weeks of 2020, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors Construction Confidence Index released today. While the reading for sales expectations edged lower for the month, confidence pertaining to sales, profit margins and staffing levels remain well above the threshold of 50, signaling expected growth in those three metrics.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19—Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator fell to 8.9 months in September 2019, down 0.1 months or 0.8% from August 2019 when CBI stood at nine months.

WASHINGTON, July 16—Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator expanded to 8.9 months in May 2019, up 0.2 months or 2.2% since April 2019, when CBI stood at 8.7 months.

  WASHINGTON, May 21—Associated Builders and Contractors reports that its monthly Construction Backlog Indicator expanded to 9.5 months in March 2019, up 0.7 months or 8.8% since February 2019 when CBI stood at 8.8 months.

WASHINGTON, April 16—Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator expanded to 8.8 months in February 2019, up 0.7 months or 8.2% from January 2019, when the backlog dipped to 8.1 months.

According to Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), the Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) for the fourth quarter of 2014 declined 0.1 months, or 1 percent.  Despite the quarter-over-quarter decline, backlog ended the year at 8.7 months, which is still 4.4 percent higher than one year ago.  

Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) declined 3.2 percent during the first quarter of 2015. Construction firms report a revenue-weighted average CBI of 8.4 months, 0.3 months below the fourth quarter of 2014 reading. Year over year, CBI has increased 4 percent from the first quarter of 2014 backlog of 8.1 months.

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 14—Construction backlog fell by 4 percent during the last quarter of 2016, according to the latest Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) released today by Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). Contractors in each segment surveyed—commercial/institutional, infrastructure and heavy industrial—all saw lower backlog during the fourth quarter, with firms in the heavy industrial segment experiencing the largest drop, down 16.8 percent to an average backlog of 5.5 months.

ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator Rebounds in 2017; All Categories Experience Gains During First Quarter   WASHINGTON, June 21-- Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today reported that its Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) rose to 9 months during the first quarter of 2017, up 8.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2016. CBI is up by 0.4 months, or 4 percent, on a year-over-year basis.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18—Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today reported its Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) fell to 8.6 months during the second quarter of 2017, down 4.1 percent from the first quarter of 2017. CBI is up by 0.1 months, or 1.4 percent, on a year-over-year basis.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11—Providing more evidence of a strengthening economy, Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) set a record as it expanded to 9.45 months during the third quarter of 2017, up 9.8 percent from the second quarter to the longest backlog reading in the eight-year history of the series.  CBI is up by 0.8 months, or 9.2 percent, on a year-over-year basis.

ABC construction economic releases are published according to this schedule in 2023

For media inquiries, please contact Erika Walter, ABC director of media relations, at [email protected].

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