Economics
ABC's Backlog Indicator Rises Slightly in December
Large contractors are seeing their backlogs increase, while small contractors' backlogs continue to decline, ABC reports.
The Associated Builders and Contractors' Construction Backlog Indicator reached 8.2 months in December, according to a survey conducted by the organization. The figure rose 0.1 since November but is down 0.1 since December 2024.
The increase in backlog is mainly seen among larger contractors, as firms with annual revenue greater than $100 million experienced their highest numbers since 2021. For contractors with revenue less than $30 million annually, however, backlog reached its lowest since 2021.
“Backlog fell sharply for smaller contractors during 2025,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu in a statement. “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.”
Overall, commercial and institutional backlog rose 0.2% since December 2024, while heavy industrial and infrastructure backlog fell 1.8% and 0.9%, respectively, in the same period.
ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, which monitors survey participants’ confidence in sales, profit margins and staffing levels, shows a monthly increase in all categories in December, while declining year-over-year.
“While contractor confidence improved slightly for the month, it remains well below late-2024 and early-2025 levels,” said Basu.
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