WASHINGTON, DC — Related Builders and Contractors reported February 13 that its Building Backlog Indicator declined to eight.4 months in January, in keeping with an ABC member survey performed from Jan. 22 to Feb. 4. The studying is down 0.6 months from January 2023.

Backlog elevated to 10.9 months within the heavy industrial class, the very best studying on report for that class, and is 2.5 months increased than in January 2023. Backlog is down on a year-over-year foundation within the business/institutional and infrastructure classes.

ABC’s Building Confidence Index readings for gross sales and staffing ranges elevated in January, whereas the studying for revenue margins declined. All three readings stay above the brink of fifty, indicating expectations for progress over the subsequent six months.

“As predicted, efficiency within the nonresidential development sector is changing into extra disparate throughout segments,” stated ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “For a lot of the pandemic restoration interval, contractors in nearly all segments have been indicating steady to rising backlog. That continues to be the case for contractors most uncovered to the nation’s industrial manufacturing. Reshoring and near-shoring proceed to drive development spending.

“In different classes, nevertheless, together with these most curiosity rate-sensitive, exercise seems to be slowing,” stated Basu. “Developer financing has grow to be each costlier and harder to acquire over roughly the previous yr, partly due to rising workplace emptiness in lots of markets. That helps to clarify declining backlog within the business class. The decline in infrastructure-related backlog could also be due solely to seasonality, nevertheless. There may be each motive to imagine that contractors specializing in public works can have a really busy yr.”