Economy

Architecture Billing Index Continues Negative Trend

May 22, 2014

The Architecture Billings Index remains in negative territory again this month. The ABI, which reflects the nine to twelve month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending, was at 49.6 in April, up slightly from 48.8 last month. A reading below 50 indicates contraction and a reading above 50 indicates an increase in design service billings.

New project inquiries picked up registering 59.1 on the index from a reading of 57.9 in March. The design contracts component of the index was 54.6 for April.

AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker is optimistic that business conditions will improve as the year progresses.

The three month moving averages by region in April were: South (57.5), West (48.9), Midwest 47.0), Northeast (42.9). The average increased in the South from 52.8 in March while the Midwest rose 0.4 points. The West fell 1.8 points after inching up 0.2 points last month. The Northeast average fell another 3.9 points in April.

The three month moving average by sector was: multi-family residential (52.6), commercial/industrial (50.2), mixed practice (50.7), institutional (47.1). All sectors improved slightly in April except Institutional which fell 1.9 points.

Below is an interactive graphic depicting the AIA Billing Index. All interactive charts can only be viewed when reading the article while logged into the Steel Market Update website. To read the full newsletter (all articles top to bottom) first log into the website then you can go back and click on the Read Full Text link or, after logging into the website you can go to the Newsletters tab and search for Executive Archives where you will find all issues including the one published on Thursday, May 22, 2014. If you need help logging into the website please contact our office: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or by phone: 800-432-3475.

{amchart id=”64″ AIA ABI Index}