Construction industry leaders were less optimistic in September, 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 September, ABC’s Construction Confidence Index decreased from 52.9 to 52 for profit margin expectations and from 62 to 60.1 for sales expectations. The index rose from 59.5 to 60.7 for staffing levels.
Additionally, ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator rose from 8.5 months in August to 8.7 months in September and was up 0.2 months compared with September 2025.
“Backlog increased for the second straight month in September as data center work continues to keep contractors busy,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The 15% of ABC members under contract to work on data centers averaged 11.3 months of backlog in September, a full three months more than ABC members that are not. This disproportionately benefits the largest contractors; 39% of contractors with greater than $100 million in annual revenues have data center work right now compared to just 1 in 10 contractors with fewer than $100 million in annual revenues.
“At the same time, rising materials and labor and borrowing costs continue to put pressure on contractors,” Basu continued. “More than 1 in 4 contractors expect their profit margins to contract over the next six months, the highest share since November 2025. Those same cost pressures have suppressed sales expectations, which also fell to an 11-month low in September.”
