Dive Brief:
- Construction backlog ticked down from May to June, though the amount of work contractors have on the books remained slightly elevated compared to last year, according to a Tuesday release from Associated Builders and Contractors.
- Work on the books dropped month-to-month to 8.8 months in June, down 0.3 months from May. That remained a notch higher than the rate a year ago: Contractors measured 8.7 months of work in June 2025.
- The main driver of booked work continues to be data center construction, said Anirban Basu, chief economist for ABC. Firms with data center contracts have an average of 2.5 more months of work ahead of them than builders without jobs in that sector.
Dive Insight:
Though the numbers decreased from May to June, Tuesday’s report comes after a historic high in backlog.
“While backlog declined in June, it’s still longer than any point from September 2023 to April 2026,” Basu said in the release.
As with previous reports, the vast majority of builders — 87% — do not have data center projects. Those that do report higher backlog, and they are often already larger builders.
“This trend is noticeable headwind for smaller contractors—just 8% of contractors with less than $100 million in annual revenues have data center work under contract, well below the 41% share of contractors with greater than $100 million in annual revenues,” Basu said.
Meanwhile, ABC’s Construction Confidence Index for sales and staffing levels increased month to month in June. The reading for profit margins, however, inched lower. All three metrics remained above the threshold of 50, indicating ABC members expect growth over the next six months.
“The effect of rising input prices may be weighing on contractor profitability,” Basu said. “Contractor confidence regarding profit margins fell to a seven-month low in June, though expectations remain above the prevailing level from the second half of 2025.”
