Economy
ABI Drops for Second Month in a Row
Written by Sandy Williams
January 23, 2014
The Architecture Billings Index declined in December to 48.5 from 49.8 in November, marking the first consecutive monthly decline since May and June of 2012. Chief Economist Kermit Baker was unsure why the demand for architectural services is slowing and attributes some of the decline to anxiety caused by the government shutdown. Baker said “it will be important to see how business conditions fare through the first quarter of the new year when we no longer have end of the year issues to deal with.”
The new projects inquiry rose to 59.2 from a reading of 57.8 in November.
Calculated on a three month moving average, the regional averages were as follows: West 53.2, South 51.2, Midwest 47.0, and Northeast 42.8.
For the sector index breakdown was as follows: multi-family residential 53.8, mixed practice 51.0, commercial/industrial 47.1, and institutional 44.8.
As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending.
Below is an interactive graphic which can only be seen when reading the newsletter (or this article) on our website. If you need help logging into the website please contact our office at 800-432-3475 or info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
{amchart id=”64″ AIA ABI Index}
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Economy
Steel groups welcome passage of budget bill
Steel trade groups praised the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) in Congress on Thursday.
Industry groups praise Senate for passing tax and budget bill
The Steel Manufacturers Association and the American Iron and Steel Institute applauded the tax provisions included in the Senate's tax and budget reconciliation bill.
Chicago PMI dips 0.1 points in June
The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) slipped 0.1 points to 40.4 points, in June.
Multi-family pullback drives housing starts to 5-year low in May
US housing starts tumbled in May to a five-year low, according to figures recently released by the US Census Bureau.
Architecture firms still struggling, ABI data shows
Architecture firms reported a modest improvement in billings through May, yet business conditions remained soft, according to the latest Architecture Billings Index (ABI) release from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Deltek.