Architecture billings reach historic low - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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Because there is typically a nine- to 12-month lag between an architectt billing a developer and that developerr spending moneyon construction, the billingd index is considered a leading economic indicator of nonresidential construction Scores above 50 indicate that, on average, billings increased in a regionb or practice area for the previous threee months. The , which compilesx the index using amonthlhy “Work-on-the-Boards” survey, calculated January’s overall ABI rating as down from the 34.1 mark in December. The numbers show a rapidlyy deteriorating situation.
By comparison, when the economic crisis first hit its full stridesin September, the national ABI rating stood at 41.4, down sharply from the 47.6 mark in For the south region, which includes the Washington area, the January score was 34.4, compared to 35.5 for In September, the south region’s score stood at 44.1. Billings for some practicse areas are holding up betterthan others. While multifamilg residential billings are clocking inat 29.5, institutional billing are faring better at 37.1. The institutee is eyeing the recently signed American Recoveryt and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in hopes it will providwe a much needed boost to thearchitecturee industry.
“Now that the stimulus bill has passed and include s funding forconstruction projects, as well as for municipalities to raisse bonds, business conditions coul improve,” said Kermit Baker, the institute’ s chief Economist. “That until we can get a clearer sensd of credit lines being made available by it will be hard to gauge when a lot of projects that have been put on hold can get back West — 38.3 Midwest — 34.6 South — 34.4 Northeas t — 29.8 Mixed practice — 39.6 Institutional — 37.1 Commercial/industria — 33.8 Multifamily residential — 29.5 New project inquiriezs index: 43.
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