The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) announced Tuesday that the Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI)-- a forward-looking economic indicator that measures the amount of nonresidential construction work under contract to be completed in the future--decreased by 3.2 percent in Q4 of fiscal 2011. The CBI fell from 8.1 months to 7.8 months and is still up by 10.9 percent over Q4 of fiscal 2010.
"Overall, the latest CBI numbers indicate a degree of stalling in the recovery of the nation's nonresidential construction industry, likely due to a combination of the soft patch that developed in the broader economy early last year, a number of seasonal factors and the winding down of federal stimulus projects," said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. "But the good news is that given the recent acceleration in economic and employment growth, CBI is positioned to rebound more forcefully during the quarters ahead."