Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC)’s Construction Backlog Indicator rose to 8.8 months in April, according to a member survey conducted from April 20 to May 4. The reading was up 0.2 months from March and up 0.1 months from April 2025.
Backlog surged for contractors with greater than $100 million in annual revenues and was 2.2 months higher last month than during April 2025. All other contractor size categories had smaller backlog than they did one year ago.
“While backlog surged to a 10-month high in April, the industry’s recent momentum is highly concentrated among a subset of contractors,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Booming data center construction has almost exclusively benefited the largest ABC members—42% of contractors with more than $100 million in annual revenues are under contract to work on data center projects. The same is true for just 7% of contractors with less than $100 million in annual revenues. Critically, contractors under contract to work on data centers have significantly longer backlog (12.2 months) than those that are not (8.3 months).”
ABC’s Construction Confidence Index readings for sales, profit margins, and staffing levels also increased in April. The readings for all three components were higher than they were one year ago and remained above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations for growth over the next six months.
“Despite diverging levels of backlog, ABC contractor members of all sizes remain confident about the outlook,” Basu noted. “Just one in five expect their profit margins to shrink over the next six months—the fewest since January 2025—and contractors are similarly upbeat about their sales and staffing levels.
“The upshot is that weak construction spending data, the recent rise in oil prices, and emerging materials price escalation have not diminished ABC member confidence.”
Visit abc.org/economics for the Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index, plus analysis of spending, employment, job openings, and the Producer Price Index.
About Associated Builders and Contractors
About Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national construction industry trade association established in 1950 with 67 chapters and 24,000 members. Founded on the merit shop philosophy, ABC helps members offer a robust employee value proposition, develop people, win work, and deliver that work safely, ethically and profitably for the betterment of the communities in which ABC and its members work.
