ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator Inches Higher in December, Fueled By Data Center Momentum

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13-Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator rose to 8.2 months in December, according to an ABC member survey conducted Dec. 22 to Jan. 7. The reading is up 0.1 months since November but down 0.1 months from December 2024.

View the full Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index data series.

Backlog continues to soar for the largest contractors and fall for the smallest. Contractors with greater than $100 million in annual revenue recorded their highest backlog since 2021, while those with less than $30 million in annual revenue recorded their lowest since 2021.

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ABC's Construction Confidence Index reading for sales, profit margins and staffing levels increased in December but are all down on a year-over-year basis. The readings for all three components remain above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations for growth over the next six months.

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"Backlog fell sharply for smaller contractors during 2025," said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. "That decline was largely due to the fact that nonresidential construction momentum is confined to the data center segment, and those projects are far more beneficial for the largest contractors. In December, the 13% of ABC members under contract to work on a data center project had significantly higher backlog (11.0 months) than those who were not (7.8 months). While contractor confidence improved slightly for the month, it remains well below late-2024 and early-2025 levels."

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Note: The reference months for the Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index data series were revised on May 12, 2020, to better reflect the survey period. CBI quantifies the previous month's work under contract based on the latest financials available, while CCI measures contractors' outlook for the next six months. View the methodology for both indicators.