Contractor project backlogs rise

The average construction backlog, reflecting the volume of projects under contract but not completed or billed by U.S. contractors, reached 8.8 months in April, according to the latest tracking by the Associated Builders and Contractors trade group. That was up 0.2 months from March and 2.2 months higher than in April 2025, signaling improving business prospects.

The project backlog surged to a 10-month high in April, though “the industry’s recent momentum is highly concentrated among a subset of contractors,” Anirban Basu, the trade group’s chief economist, said in a statement. He noted booming data center construction “has almost exclusively benefited” the largest contractors with more than $100 million in annual revenue.

Contractors generally remain confident in their outlooks for revenue and profits over the next six months. Also this month, data firm Dodge Construction Network reported a 6.2% April jump in U.S. nonresidential projects heading into planning after receiving necessary approvals, with commercial projects rising 8.1% from the prior month, led by offices, data centers and warehouses.

This followed three months of slowing momentum, according to Dodge analyst Sarah Martin. Dodge reported a total of 44 projects heading into planning that were valued at $100 million or higher, led by a $500 million Google data center in Buffalo, West Virginia, and a $470 million Stargate data center in Burlington, Texas.