(09-20-18)
Billings at US architecture firms saw a healthy jump in August, a positive sign as firms enter what is traditionally a seasonal slowdown. The August ABI score of 54.2 (any score above 50 signifies growth) was the second highest so far for 2018, more than two points above the average of the first seven months of the year.
While project inquiries were also healthy, new design contracts coming into architecture firms saw a rare although very modest decline. This was the first monthly decline in new work coming into firms in almost two years. Regional ABI scores for August continued to reflect a divergence in business conditions. Scores for firms in the South remained on their torrid pace; the ABI score at firms in this region was 57.0 for the month, and have averaged above 55 for the first eight months of the year. In contrast, the ABI score of 46.9 for firms in the Northeast reflected the steepest drop in billings so far this year. ABI scores in the Northeast have declined in six of the eight months of 2018. Firms in the Midwest and West regions reported healthy business conditions. Firms specializing in each of the major construction sectors also were uniformly reporting healthy conditions; the preliminary ABI score for residential firms was 55.6, 53.6 for those in the commercial/industrial sector, and 52.3 for institutional firms.
