After an early year decline, the number of construction projects on the backlog have increased, largely fueled by new infrastructure work.
In its Construction Backlog Indicator, the Associated Builders and Contractors is reporting an increase from March to April, for an overall reading of 8.9 months.
While the commercial and institutional sector continues to report the largest backlog at 9.2 months, slightly down from 9.3 months in March, it’s the infrastructure sector that saw the greatest growth, increasing from 7.1 months in March to 8.0 last month.
A third category, heavy industry, saw a decline of 8.8 months to 8.4 months.
In surveying the latest figures, Anirban Basu, chief economist for ABC, remarked: “One would not be able to discern that interest rates are high, the nation’s backing sector is in tumult, politicians are arguing over the nation’s debt limit and recession fears remain pervasive.”
Continued Basu: “Despite many headwinds and an active news cycle, contractors continue to express confidence in the near term.”
The backlog numbers are particularly strong in the South, which has been the case for most of the last year. In April, the South’s backlog stood at 10.7—the largest backlog in the country.
The Northeast saw a 9.1-month backlog in April, significantly up from March when the numbers stood at 8.0, while the West saw a backlog increase of 7.9 months in March to 8.4 months in April.
The smallest regional increase was recorded in the Midwest, with a March backlog of 7.3 months declining to 7.0 in April.
As is usually the case, the larger the firm, the greater the backlog: companies with revenues above the $100 million mark reported an 11.9-month backlog, followed by firms in the $50 million to $100 million range at 13 months.
Companies with revenues between $30 million and $50 million, reported an average 6.8-month backlog; while the backlog increased to 8.1 months for companies with revenues of $30 million or less.
By Garry Boulard
