The USG + U.S. Chamber of Commerce Commercial Construction Index (CCI) is a quarterly economic index designed to gauge the outlook for, and resulting confidence in, the commercial construction industry.
Recognizing a need to highlight the important contributions of this sector to the nation’s economy, USG Corporation and the U.S. Chamber partnered to produce this first-of-its-kind index.
Each quarter, contractors across the country are surveyed in order to better understand their levels of confidence in the industry and top-of-mind concerns.
![CCI 2018 Q3 - Graphic](https://uschamber.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fs3.amazonaws.com%2Fuschamber.com-assets%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fgeneric-missing_2020-12-10-141105.gif?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&fm=png&q=80&w=100&s=a743429f492a78d487b4ffda52613be7)
Contractors in the U.S. commercial construction industry report overall optimism about the construction market in Q3 2018. This comes despite contractors’ ongoing challenges with skilled workforce availability and tariff-related concerns. The score increase (to 75) is likely driven by positive changes in backlog figures since Q2 2018.
Key Drivers of Contractor Confidence
Backlog
![CCI Index Graphic - Backlog](https://uschamber.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fs3.amazonaws.com%2Fuschamber.com-assets%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fgeneric-missing_2020-12-10-141105.gif?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&fm=png&q=80&w=100&s=a743429f492a78d487b4ffda52613be7)
The ratio between actual (10.3 months) and stated ideal (12.7 months) backlog is 81, the highest since the Index began tracking this data in Q1 2017.
New Business
![CCI 2018 Q3 - Graphic](https://uschamber.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fs3.amazonaws.com%2Fuschamber.com-assets%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fgeneric-missing_2020-12-10-141105.gif?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&fm=png&q=80&w=100&s=a743429f492a78d487b4ffda52613be7)
Contractors still have high confidence in the market’s ability to provide new business opportunities in the next 12 months, within one point of last quarter.
Revenue
![CCI 2018 Q3 - Graphic](https://uschamber.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fs3.amazonaws.com%2Fuschamber.com-assets%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fgeneric-missing_2020-12-10-141105.gif?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&fm=png&q=80&w=100&s=a743429f492a78d487b4ffda52613be7)
Most contractors believe they will see revenue growth in the next 12 months, but fewer report an increase in this quarter compared to Q2.