Building Activity Increases As Construction Backlogs Edge Higher
The Associated Builders and Contractors’ Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) expanded by 1%, to 8.5 months during the second quarter of 2015. Backlogs declined 3% during the first quarter, which was punctuated by harsh winter weather and the lingering effects of the West Coast ports slowdown. The CBI stands roughly where it did a year ago, indicative of an ongoing recovery in the nation’s nonresidential construction industry, ABC says.
“The nation’s nonresidential construction industry is now one of America’s leading engines of growth,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The broader U.S. economic recovery is now in its 74th month but remains under-diversified, led primarily by a combination of consumer spending growth as well as residential and nonresidential construction recovery.