www.thecentersquare.com – By Nolan Mckendry | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-08-13 13:20:00
The South leads the U.S. in construction backlog length, reflecting strong economic activity, according to Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). In July 2025, the South’s backlog averaged 9.8 months, 2.13 months longer than other regions, driven by rapid population growth, a healthy labor market, infrastructure projects, and booming data center construction. Despite steady backlog, contractor confidence in sales and profit margins declined due to trade policies and rising material costs, with over 80% facing tariff-related price hikes. Migration trends have strongly favored the South since 2020, with states like Texas and Florida gaining nearly 1.2 million residents collectively, excluding Louisiana and Mississippi.
(The Center Square) − The South continues to lead the nation in construction backlog length, suggesting strong economic performance, according to new data from Associated Builders and Contractors.
“Backlog is longer in the South because contractors are busier,” ABC economist Zack Fritz told The Center Square. “This trend is downstream of the South’s economic outperformance – rapid population growth has fueled a healthy labor market and significant development activity.”
The backlog figure represents the average length of time contractors are booked in advance, and the South is leading all other regions by an average of 2.13 months in July.
ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator for the South measured 9.8 months in July 2025, the same as in July 2024, but still significantly higher than every other region.
Still, the survey also found contractor confidence in sales and profit margins fell in July.
“Fewer than 2% of ABC members expect their profit margins to increase significantly over the next six months, the fewest since October 2024,” said Anirban Basu, a chief economist for Associated Builders and Contractors. “This is likely due to trade policy and the recent acceleration in materials price escalation; more than 80% of ABC members have been notified of tariff-related price increases.”
The backlog, according to Basu, is partly driven by infrastructure projects and a surge in data center construction, noting that “1 in every 8 ABC members is currently under contract to perform work on a data center project.”
Backlog is measured in months by averaging the ratio of contractors’ total work under contract to their prior year revenues. While some contractors report having no backlog at all, Fritz said the reading will “realistically always be positive” when averaged across the industry.
Migration trends since 2020 heavily favor the South, with Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina collectively gaining nearly 1.2 million new residents. Census Bureau data shows it was the only region as a whole to attract more people from other states than it lost.
Louisiana and Mississippi were the lone exceptions in the South, recording slight population declines compared with 2020.
According to ABC’s methodology, the South includes: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The article primarily reports on economic data and trends related to construction backlog in the Southern United States without endorsing any political ideology or policy position. It presents factual information, quotes economists from Associated Builders and Contractors, and discusses regional economic performance and migration patterns in a neutral tone. The language is straightforward and descriptive, focusing on economic indicators rather than political commentary. Thus, it adheres to neutral, factual reporting by conveying the ideological or economic positions of the parties involved without promoting a specific viewpoint itself.
Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin has twice violated the STOCK Act by late-disclosing nearly three dozen stock and bond transactions worth $1.4 to $3.5 million. These tardy filings follow previous delays of up to two-and-a-half years. Mullin’s office attributes the delays to amendments for accuracy and states an independent firm manages his portfolio, reporting bi-weekly to Senate Ethics. Numerous lawmakers from both parties have also violated the STOCK Act recently. In response, bipartisan bills have been introduced to ban or restrict congressional stock trading, with some progress in the Senate and expressed openness from leaders, though no full votes have occurred yet.
by Dave Levinthal, Oklahoma Watch August 15, 2025
For the second time in two weeks, Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin has disclosed trades showing that he violated a federal conflicts of interest and financial transparency law.
A NOTUS analysis of a financial document Mullin filed Tuesday with the U.S. Senate revealed the Oklahoma lawmaker was months late disclosing nearly three dozen stock and bond transactions by him and his wife.
Taken together, the transactions — mostly sales — are worth between $1.4 million and $3.5 million. Lawmakers are only required to disclose the value of their trades in broad ranges.
The late disclosures follow an earlier slate of hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of tardy stock and municipal security filings — some up to two-and-a-half years past a 45-day deadline enshrined in the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act — that Oklahoma Watch reported Aug. 5.
As it did last month, Mullin’s office declined to answer specific questions about the late filings and emailed Oklahoma Watch the same statement about the senator’s finances.
“Much like tax returns, financial disclosures occasionally need to be amended to reflect the most accurate, up-to-date information,” said a Mullin spokesperson. “That’s what we did here.”
Mullin uses an independent, third-party operator firm that manages all stock portfolio investments on his behalf. He does not conduct nor inform trades. The independent firm reports bi-weekly to Senate Ethics to ensure compliance with federal law, the spokesperson added.
Dozens of other federal lawmakers — Democrats and Republicans alike — have violated the STOCK Act’s disclosure provisions in recent years. The latest example — Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar — told NOTUS that he is in the process of selling off his individual stocks.
Federal lawmakers have introduced several bills this year that would ban, or otherwise restrict, members of Congress and their immediate family from trading individual stocks.
The measures have attracted an unlikely coalition of Republicans and Democrats. Together, they broadly argue that the current STOCK Act is too weak to adequately defend against the specter of insider trading and conflicts of interest and too permissive toward lawmakers who violate — sometimes repeatedly — its transparency and disclosure provisions.
One such bill, the Halting Ownership and Non-Ethical Stock Transaction Act, advanced last month out of a Senate committee thanks to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri teaming with the committee’s Democrats.
President Donald Trump has said he’s open, in principle, to signing a congressional stock-trade ban, although he’s warned Congress that he doesn’t want the ban to extend to the White House.
Both House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have expressedopenness to a congressional stock-trade ban. But no such bill has yet received a vote in either the full House or Senate.
Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
This content critically examines Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin’s violations of financial disclosure laws, highlighting concerns about transparency and accountability. While it notes that lawmakers from both parties have committed similar infractions, the framing emphasizes ethical shortcomings within the Republican ranks and points to bipartisan legislative efforts to tighten regulations. The tone is investigative and somewhat critical of political corruption, aligning with a Center-Left perspective that values government oversight and reform without overt partisan bias.
SUMMARY: Michael French, operator of a sports training facility in Oklahoma, has been arrested on charges of lewd acts and soliciting a young girl in her early teens. Known for giving private baseball and softball lessons, French’s position raises concern as authorities fear there may be additional, unreported victims. Though former facility owners state French had not worked for them in recent years and never caused issues, police urge anyone affected or aware of inappropriate conduct to come forward. The investigation highlights the risk posed by someone trusted with access to children in sports environments. Authorities continue their search for more victims.
Sports training facility operator accused of child sex crimes
Stay informed about Oklahoma news and weather! Follow KFOR News 4 on our website and social channels.
SUMMARY: A statewide network outage in Oklahoma disrupted computer systems and phone lines across multiple state offices and tag agencies, leaving hundreds of employees unable to work and frustrating customers. The outage, lasting several hours, forced some agencies to close temporarily. Private tag agencies, which depend on state-run systems, were also severely affected, with many unable to process title, tax, or driver’s license services. Attempts to contact affected agencies often failed due to the widespread service disruption. The state’s Office of Management and Enterprise Services confirmed they were working to resolve an internet outage but provided no details on its cause, leaving cleanup ongoing as operations gradually resume.
Network outage brings state offices, tag agencies to a halt
Stay informed about Oklahoma news and weather! Follow KFOR News 4 on our website and social channels.
