Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator declined to 8.7 months in March, according to an ABC member survey conducted March 20 to April 3. The reading is 0.4 months higher than in March 2022.
View ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index tables for March. View the historic Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index data series.
Backlog slipped in March and is now at its lowest level since August 2022. Backlog is down on a monthly basis in every region except for the South, which continues to be associated with elevated levels of current and future construction activity.
ABC’s Construction Confidence Index reading for sales inched higher in March, while the readings for profit margins and staffing levels fell. All three readings remain above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations of growth over the next six months.
“The deceleration in nonresidential construction activity may have started,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “With widespread fears of recession, credit conditions tightening and more decision-makers turning their attention to cost containment, new construction work may be more difficult for contractors to line up.
“While the confidence and backlog data weakened in March, they indicate a slowing of activity rather than a shift into reverse,” said Basu. “There is a widely held view that financial conditions are tightening in the aftermath of the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. To the extent that this is true, one could anticipate further slowing and less industry confidence during the months ahead.”
Related Stories
| Jan 23, 2014
Think you can recognize a metal building from the outside?
What looks like brick, stucco or wood on the outside could actually be a metal building. Metal is no longer easily detectable. It’s gotten sneakier visually. And a great example of that is the Madison Square retail center in Norman, Okla.
| Jan 22, 2014
SOM-designed University Center uses 'sky quads,' stacked staircases to promote chance encounters
The New School's vertical campus in Manhattan houses multiple functions, including labs, design studios, a library, and student residences, in a 16-story building.
| Jan 22, 2014
Architecture Billings Index sees first back-to-back decline since mid-2012
The AIA's Architecture Billings Index dipped for the second consecutive month in December—the first consecutive months of contraction since May and June of 2012.
| Jan 21, 2014
Comcast to build second Philadelphia skyscraper, with Norman Foster-designed tower [slideshow]
The British architect last week unveiled his scheme for the $1.2 billion, 59-story Comcast Innovation and Technology Center, planned adjacent to the Comcast Center.
| Jan 21, 2014
2013: The year of the super-tall skyscraper
Last year was the second-busiest ever in terms of 200-meter-plus building completions, with 73 towers, according to a report by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
| Jan 20, 2014
BUILDINGChicago/Greening the Heartland Conference 'call for 2014 educational proposals' is now open
The conference and exposition will take place September 29-October 1, 2014, at North America’s largest LEED Gold-certified hotel, the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza. Deadline for proposals is February 28, 2014.
| Jan 17, 2014
Crystal Bridges Museum will move Frank Lloyd Wright house from New Jersey to Arkansas
Numerous architectural experts have concluded that moving the Bachman Wilson House offers its best hope for long-term survival.
| Jan 17, 2014
Australian project transforms shipping containers into serene workplace
Australian firm Royal Wolf has put its money where its mouth is by creating an office facility out of shipping containers at its depot and fabrication center in Sunshine, Victoria.
| Jan 17, 2014
The Starchitect of Oz: New Gehry building in Sydney celebrates topping out
The Dr. Chau Chak Wing Building at the University of Technology, Sydney, will mark Frank Gehry's debut project in the Australian metro.
| Jan 16, 2014
Construction spending for 2013 finishing 5% higher than 2012: Gilbane Construction Economics report
??Construction growth is looking up, according to the December 2013 release of the periodic report Construction Economics, authored by Gilbane Building Company. Construction spending for 2013 will finish the year up 5%.
