Principal's Report

Despite having its highest score since January, the July Architecture Billings Index continues to point to difficult conditions for the nonresidential construction market. There have been six consecutive months with negative scores, indicating that business levels at U.S architecture firms continue to worsen. As an economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI shows an approximate nine- to 12-month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects reported the July ABI rating was 46.8, up slightly from the 46.1 mark in June (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings).