Construction industry leaders were less optimistic in July, according to Associated Builders and Contractors.
Two of the three components of ABC’s Construction Confidence Index fell for the month, but all three components remained above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations for growth during the next six months.
In July, ABC’s Construction Confidence Index increased from 52.4 to 52.7 for profit margin expectations. The index fell from 62.7 to 62.3 for staffing levels and from 63.6 to 61.2 for sales expectations.
Additionally, ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator fell from 8.8 months in June to 8 months in July and was down 0.8 months compared with July 2025.
“Backlog fell sharply in July and is down to the lowest level since January,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The data center boom masks the depth of this weakness, as there is a lack of momentum in any other segment. The 88% of ABC contractors that are not under contract to work on a data center had an average 7.5 months of backlog. That compares poorly to the 12% that are under contract to work on data centers, which have 11.4 months of backlog. This dynamic has been particularly difficult for small and mid-size contractors. Backlog in the $30-$50 million annual revenue category, for instance, fell to the lowest level since March 2020.”
