Michael Latas & Associates
Construction Report - February 2026
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Executive Summary
February data looked stronger than January’s in employment terms. BLS data released on February 11 showed the industry added 33,000 jobs in January 2026, and ABC said nonresidential construction employment added 27,900 of those jobs, led by specialty trades. Year over year, construction employment was up 44,000, though ABC also noted the weakness of 2025 overall and said much of the softness remained concentrated in the residential side of the market. Job openings also improved. ABC reported on February 5 that construction had 292,000 job openings at the end of December, up 8,000 from November and 87,000 higher than a year earlier. Even with that rebound, ABC’s commentary suggested labor demand was still not as strong as headline shortage narratives might imply, because actual hiring activity remained subdued compared with prior cycles. Backlog softened modestly. ABC’s February 10 release put January backlog at 8.0 months, down from 8.2 months in December and down 0.4 months year over year. Again, the split by contractor size mattered: backlog was holding up better at firms above roughly $50 million in annual revenue, while smaller contractors saw more visible deterioration. There were also several notable company-level signals in February. EMCOR reported record quarterly and full-year 2025 revenue, plus record remaining performance obligations of $13.25 billion, and guided to $17.75 billion to $18.50 billion of 2026 revenue, a strong read-through for mechanical/electrical and mission-critical construction demand. Holcim reiterated plans to keep acquiring businesses in 2026 and said infrastructure should be a growth support. Meanwhile, Builders FirstSource gave a softer outlook tied to housing weakness, underscoring the split between nonresidential/infrastructure strength and residential caution. One more useful leading indicator: Dodge data cited by Construction Dive showed construction planning fell 6.3% in January, with weakness across several commercial and institutional categories. That suggests the bidding environment was still choppy even as active large-project execution remained solid. What it means: February’s picture was better than January’s, especially for nonresidential hiring and large-scale contractor activity, but the market still looked bifurcated. Big contractors with exposure to infrastructure, electrical, mechanical, and data center work appeared to be in better shape than smaller firms and housing-linked players.
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