Economy

Slight Improvement in ABI for February

March 20, 2014

Demand for architectural design services inched up in February registering 50.7 on the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Architecture Billings Index, up just slightly from 50.4 in January. The new projects inquiry index fell to 56.8 from 58.5 the previous month. Increase in design activity for multi-family residential and commercial nudged growth in February.

“The unusually severe weather conditions in many parts of the country have obviously held back both design and construction activity,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. “The March and April readings will likely be a better indication of the underlying health of the design and construction markets. We are hearing reports of projects that had been previously shelved for extended periods of time coming back online as the economy improves.”

The regional ABI averages were: South 52.8, West 50.5, Northeast 48.3, Midwest 47.6.

By sector the index breakdown was: multi-family residential 52.2, commercial/industrial 51.9, institutional 49.6, mixed practice 46.6.

The ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The score reflects an increase in demand for design services with any score above 50 indicating an increase in billing.

{amchart id=”64″ AIA ABI Index}