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, Sept. 14—Construction input prices rose 1.5% in August compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices also increased 1.5% for the month, but are up just 0.2% from a year ago.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14—Construction input prices decreased 1.4% in August compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices fell 1.4% for the month as well.

WASHINGTON, June 14—Construction input prices rose 2.3% in May compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices also increased 2.3% for the month.

WASHINGTON, May 12—Construction input prices increased 0.8% in April compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices rose 0.9% for the month.

WASHINGTON, April 13—Construction input prices rose 2.9% in March, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices expanded 2.8% for the month.

WASHINGTON, March 15—Construction input prices increased 2.6% in February compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices rose 2.5% for the month.

WASHINGTON, March 15—Construction input prices increased 2.6% in February compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices rose 2.5% for the month.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15—Construction input prices rose 3.5% in January compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices increased 3.1% for the month.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1—National nonresidential construction spending fell 0.7% in December 2021, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $820.7 billion for the month.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13—Construction input prices remained virtually unchanged in October compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices also remained unchanged for the month.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14—Construction input prices fell 0.7 percent on a monthly basis in January yet are up 1.6 percent year-over-year according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released today. Construction input prices have declined for three consecutive months and in four of the previous six months.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11—Construction materials prices fell 1.8 percent in November, according to Associated Builders and Contractors’ analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released today. Despite the monthly decline, materials prices are still 5.3 percent higher than they were on a year-over-year basis.

Prices for inputs to construction industries expanded 0.8 percent in March, the largest monthly increase in more than two years, according to the April 14 producer price index release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prices have now expanded for two consecutive months after declining during the prior six; however input prices are down 3.6 percent on a year-over-year basis. March marks the fourth consecutive month year-over-year input prices have declined, the longest such streak since 2009. Crude petroleum prices fell 4 percent in March and have fallen in eight of the previous nine months.

Prices for inputs to construction industries fell by 0.1 percent in April, ending a two month streak during which material prices expanded by greater than 0.4 percent. Prices have now fallen in six of the previous eight months and input prices are also down on a year-over-year basis, falling 4 percent since April 2014. This represents the greatest year-over-year decline since October 2009 and year-over-year input prices have now declined for 5 straight months after expanding in each of the previous 60 months. Prices for inputs to nonresidential construction showed a similar decline, falling 0.1 percent for the month and 5.1 percent year-over-year. Crude petroleum prices expanded for only the second time in the previous ten months, growing by 13.1 percent, the largest month-over-month increase since November 2011.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13—Construction input prices rose 0.6 percent in August and are up 3.7 percent on a yearly basis, according to an analysis by Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nonresidential construction input prices behaved similarly, rising 0.6 percent for the month and 3.5 percent for the year.  

Prices for inputs to construction industries expanded by 1.1 percent in May, the largest month-over-month increase in more than two years and only the third time in the past 10 months that construction input prices have grown on a monthly basis. Year-over-year prices fell by 3 percent in May and have now fallen by more than 3 percent in each of the year’s first five months. The last time this occurred was the third and fourth quarter of 2009. Only three of the 11 key construction inputs—nonferrous wire and cable, crude petroleum and crude energy materials—experienced monthly price increases in May.

Construction input prices dipped 1.4 percent during the final month of 2014 and are down nearly 1 percent on a year-over-year basis, according to the Jan. 15 producer price index release from the U.S. Department of Labor. Inputs to nonresidential construction fell even farther, down 1.7 percent for the month and 1.9 percent year over year. December’s report marks the sharpest decline in input prices since late 2008 during the global financial crisis and the fifth consecutive month construction materials prices have failed to rise.

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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