Midwest Construction backlogs declined by 11.7%, from 6.97 months to 6.15 months, in the third quarter of 2013, according to year-over-year data compiled by Arlington, Va.-based Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). The period also marked the fourth consecutive quarter of declining backlogs for the region, a trend ABC attributes to softening activity in the industrial sector.
Nevertheless, construction momentum is becoming increasingly divergent in U.S. regions, the Midwest included, according to ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The middle states continue to be associated with the shortest average backlog at 6.15 months, even though construction activity has been robust in North Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota,” Basu says.