Construction project backlogs saw another increase last month, providing the latest evidence of a rebounding, post-pandemic economy.
According to a new report issued by the Associated Builders and Contractors, the group’s construction backlog indicator hit the 8.4-month mark in November, up by 0.3 months over the month before.
The backlog indicator saw an increased workload in the infrastructure, heavy industrial, and commercial and institutional sectors. By region, the Middle West and South saw the greatest increase in backlog work, while the northeast declined from 8.7 months to 7.7 months and the West marginally moved from 8.1 months to 8.0 months.
At the same time, the ABC survey reveals that contractors are in general feeling better about their businesses with the association’s construction confidence index significantly up from 59.7 in October to 65.2 last month.
Positive sales expectations, meanwhile, have climbed from 53% in October to nearly 65% in November.
Such growing confidence, said Anirban Basu, chief economist with ABC, show that it’s “getting better out there.”
“While the outlook for construction remains imperfect,” continued Basu in a statement, “extraordinarily low interest rates have created enough appetite for deal-making to push backlog higher and persuade the average contractor that sales, employment, and profit margins will climb over the next six months.”
The survey additionally reveals increased construction industry staffing expectations with 49% of respondents in October saying they will hire more workers, and nearly 55% saying the same in November.
By Garry Boulard
