December Billings at Architectural Firms Move Up Smartly
The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) jumped more than two points in December, its highest mark since 2007. Published by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Washington, D.C., the ABI is a leading economic indicator of construction activity and reflects the approximate nine- to twelve-month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The AIA reported the December ABI score was 54.2 points, up from a reading of 52 points the previous month. This score reflects an increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 points indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 62.6 points, up slightly from a mark of 61.4 points in November.
“This is more promising news that the design and construction industry is continuing to move toward a recovery,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker. “However, historically December is the most unpredictable month from a business standpoint, and therefore the most difficult month from which to interpret a trend. The coming quarter will give us a much better sense of the strength of the apparent upturn in design activity. ” Details
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Jim Lucy Blog
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Jim Lucy has been wandering through the electrical market for more than 30 years, most of the time as an editor for Electrical Wholesaling, Electrical Marketing newsletter and CEE News. During that time he and the editorial team for the publications have won numerous national awards for their coverage of the electrical business. He showed an early interest in electricity, when as a youth he had an idea for a hot dog cooker. Unfortunately, the first crude prototype malfunctioned and the arc nearly blew him out of his parents' basement. Before becoming an editor for Electrical Wholesaling magazine and Electrical Marketing, he earned a BA degree in journalism and a MA in communications from Glassboro State College, Glassboro, NJ., which is formerly best known as the site of the 1967 summit meeting between President Lyndon Johnson and Russian Premier Aleksei Nikolayevich Kosygin, and now best known as the New Jersey state college that changed its name in 1992 to Rowan University because of a generous $100 million donation by N.J. zillionaire industrialist Henry Rowan. Jim is a Brooklyn-born Jersey Guy happily transplanted in the fertile plains of Kansas for the past 20 years.