flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

ABC’s construction backlog inches lower in June; Contractor confidence falters

Building Team

ABC’s construction backlog inches lower in June; Contractor confidence falters

Associated Builders and Contractors reports today that its Construction Backlog Indicator fell 0.1 months in June and stands at 8.9 months, according to an ABC member survey conducted June 21 to July 5.


By ABC | July 14, 2022
Construction Industry
Courtesy Pixabay.

Associated Builders and Contractors reports today that its Construction Backlog Indicator fell 0.1 months in June and stands at 8.9 months, according to an ABC member survey conducted June 21 to July 5. The reading is up 0.4 months from June 2021.

View ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index tables for June 2022.

ABC’s Construction Confidence Index readings for sales, profit margins and staffing levels declined in June. The indices for sales and staffing remain above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations of growth over the next six months, while the reading for profit margins fell below the threshold of 50 for the first time since October 2021.

“Several months ago, there was conjecture that contractors were generally too upbeat regarding their collective future,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Increasingly, the data suggest that they were. At the time, many contractors reported surging backlog and an ability to pass along hefty cost increases to project owners. For months, contractors expected sales, employment and margins to expand. The most recent ABC survey indicates that, to secure work and to induce project starts, a growing fraction of contractors is having to trim margins.

“While circumstances are hardly catastrophic, the nonresidential construction marketplace is not as strong as it was expected to be,” said Basu. “Many factors are involved, including materials prices that have remained stubbornly elevated and construction skills shortages that have refused to dissipate.

“In the context of rising fears of recession and rising borrowing costs, the stage has been set for softer nonresidential construction activity going forward," said Basu. "That said, public contractors can expect to remain busy in the context of a significant infrastructure spending package. Still, the market may not prove as robust as anticipated given delayed project start dates as public agencies determine the right moment to purchase construction services. Despite all of these considerations, contractors continue to expect industry sales and employment to expand over the next six months.”

ABC Construction Backlog Indicator & Construction Confidence
Courtesy ABC.

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.

Related Stories

| Jul 9, 2014

First Look: SOM's design for All Aboard Florida Fort Lauderdale rail station

The lightweight and luminous design "responds to its setting and creates a striking infrastructural icon for the city," said SOM Design Partner Roger Duffy. 

| Jul 8, 2014

Does Zaha Hadid’s Tokyo Olympic Stadium have a design flaw?

After being criticized for the cost and size of her stadium design for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, a Japanese architect points out a major design flaw in the stadium that may endanger the spectators.

| Jul 8, 2014

Frank Lloyd Wright's posthumous gas station opens in Buffalo

Eighty-seven years after Frank Lloyd Wright designed an ornamental gas station for the city of Buffalo, the structure has been built and opened to the public—inside an auto museum. 

| Jul 7, 2014

A climate-controlled city is Dubai's newest colossal project

To add to Dubai's already impressive portfolio of world's tallest tower and world's largest natural flower garden, Dubai Holding has plans to build the world's largest climate-controlled city.

| Jul 3, 2014

Gehry edits Canadian skyscraper plan to be 'more Toronto'

After being criticized for the original tower complex, architect Frank Gehry unveils a new design that is more subtle, and "more Toronto."

| Jul 2, 2014

First Look: Qatar World Cup stadium design references nomadic heritage

Organizers of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, recently unveiled designs for the second stadium.

| Jul 2, 2014

SHoP designs what would be Brooklyn's tallest building

JDS Development partners with SHoP to construct a 70-story building at 775-feet tall, unprecedented for downtown Brooklyn.

| Jul 1, 2014

Winning design by 3XN converts modernist bathhouse to university library

Danish firm 3XN's design wins competition for a new educational facility for Mälardalen University in Sweden, which will house a library, communal spaces, and offices for 4,500 students and staff.

| Jun 30, 2014

Philip Johnson’s iconic World's Fair 'Tent of Tomorrow' to receive much needed restoration funding

A neglected Queens landmark that once reflected the "excitement and hopefulness" at the beginning of the Space Age may soon be restored. 

| Jun 30, 2014

Narrow San Francisco lots to be developed into micro-units

As a solution to San Francisco’s density and low housing supply compared to demand, local firms Build Inc. and Macy Architecture each are to build micro-unit housing in a small parcel of land in Hayes Valley.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021