Dive Brief:

• The backlog of construction projects — those under contract but not yet completed — declined by 3.2% during the first quarter of 2015, indicating waning demand for new building.

• Associated Builders and Contractors’ Construction Backlog Indicator dipped for the second straight quarter after reaching record highs in the second and third quarters of 2014, the trade group reported on Tuesday.

• For January through March, construction firms reported a construction backlog of 8.4 months. While that is approximately one-third of a month below the fourth-quarter 2015 reading, it is 4% higher than the 8.1-month backlog reported in the first quarter of 2014, the ABC said.

Dive Insight:

ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu attributed the declining backlog to “a brutal winter” that may have delayed the signing of contracts. Basu recalled that backlog dipped during the first quarters of 2012 and 2014, and that in both years, it reversed the following quarter.

Basu noted the overall economy “failed to expand” during the first quarter of this year, despite expanding job growth, low unemployment and steady wage gains.