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Business | Contracting

ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator Falls Sharply in November, Confidence in Profit Margins Dips

by Associated Builders and Contractors on

Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator fell to 8.1 months in November, according to an ABC member survey conducted Nov. 20 to Dec. 8. The reading is down 0.3 months since both October 2025 and November 2024. 

View the full Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index data series. 

Backlog is down on both a monthly and yearly basis for every size of contractor other than those with greater than $100 million in annual revenues.

ABC’s Construction Confidence Index reading for sales increased in November, while the readings for profit margins and staffing levels declined. The readings for all three components remain above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations for growth over the next six months.

“Backlog declined sharply in November and is now at the lowest level since February 2024,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The decline was particularly steep for the smallest contractors; ABC members with under $30 million in annual revenues registered their lowest backlog reading in over four years. Notably, fewer than 6% of those smallest contractors are under contract to work on data center projects, well below the 37% share for contractors with greater than $100 million in annual revenues. 

“Despite the decline in backlog, contractors remain broadly optimistic that their sales and staffing levels will expand over the next six months,” said Basu. “At the same time, just 33.6% of contractors expect their profit margins to expand over the next two quarters, the lowest share in over a year. That likely reflects growing anxiety about materials costs, which have started to rise after several quarters of relative stability.”

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. View the methodology for both indicators.