Construction backlogs in the Midwest declined by 6%, from 6.73 months to 6.32 months, in the second quarter of 2013, according to year-over-year data compiled by Arlington, Va.-based Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). The period also marked the third consecutive quarter of declining backlogs for the region, a trend ABC attributes to slow economic growth in Illinois and Wisconsin.
“Many state governments in the region are facing particularly large fiscal challenges, says ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “That said, there will be times when the Middle States become more active than [other regions] as energy production expands in the Utica Shale region.”