Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator remained unchanged at 8.5 months in September, according to an ABC member survey conducted Sept. 22 to Oct. 6. The reading is down 0.1 months since September 2024.

Over the past year, backlog has declined in the commercial and institutional and heavy industrial categories, while it has increased substantially in the infrastructure category.

David Keeling has been confirmed to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as the assistant secretary of labor. The U.S. Senate voted 51-47 to approved his confirmation, along with a block of dozens of other nominees for other federal agencies.

Keeling is Amazon’s former director of road and transportation safety, a job he left in mid-2023 to do consulting, according to LinkedIn. He also spent about 36 years working for the United Parcel Service in several regional safety manager and director roles before becoming its vice president of global health and safety.

The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI), issued by Dodge Construction Network, increased 3.4% in September to 304.6 from the downwardly revised reading of 294.7. Over the month, commercial planning expanded 4.7% while institutional planning ticked up 0.9%. Year-to-date, the DMI is up 33% from the average reading over the same period in 2024. 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy welcomed four new top officials to the Department following their confirmation by the U.S. Senate on October 7, 2025, in an en bloc vote of 51-47. They are:

• Michael Rutherford to serve as the first Assistant Secretary for Multimodal Freight Infrastructure & Policy,
• Gregory Zerzan as General Counsel,
• Derek Barrs as the 8th Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and
• David Fink as the 16^th Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)

“Michael, Gregory, Derek, and David are accomplished leaders in their fields who will help us advance the transportation, safety, and infrastructure needs of the American people,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy.