Architecture Billings Index<\/a> (ABI), which dipped into negative territory for the first time in five months in January, inched back up in February with a small increase in demand for design services. According to the organization, the index came in at 50.3 in February, up from 49.6 a month earlier. Both scores are near the threshold of 50, however. Below 50 indicates more architects reported a decrease in billings than an increase.<\/p>\nDemand for multifamily design services still leads the pack. The ABI breakdown by property type was as follows: multifamily residential (53.0), commercial\/industrial (52.3), institutional (48.1) and mixed practice (47.7). Somewhat healthier was the AIA’s new projects inquiry index, which came in at 59.5, up from a reading of 55.3 the previous month.<\/p>\n
The ABI is a leading indicator of commercial and residential property construction, reflecting a nine- to 12-month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending. The index is derived from a monthly \u201cWork-on-the-Boards\u201d survey that’s sent to a panel of AIA member-owned firms. Participants are asked whether their billings increased, decreased or stayed the same in the month that just ended, compared to the month before.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarch and April are traditionally the busiest months for architecture firms, so we should get a clearer reading of underlying momentum over the next couple of months,\u201d AIA chief economist, Kermit Baker noted. \u201cHopefully the relatively mild weather conditions recently in most parts of the country will help design and construction activity move ahead at a somewhat faster pace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Architecture billings inched back up in February after dipping into negative territory for the first time in five months in January. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1023,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21782,21748,23891,21742],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004140148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-development","category-industrial","category-national","category-latest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Economy Watch: Architectural Billings Eke Out Gain in February - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Economy Watch: Architectural Billings Eke Out Gain in February\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Architecture billings inched back up in February after dipping into negative territory for the first time in five months in January.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Property Executive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-24T13:00:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-09T10:31:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dees Stribling\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dees Stribling\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dc1e9fa4ee0430d86f8e60cd697c953c\"},\"headline\":\"Economy Watch: Architectural Billings Eke Out Gain in February\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-24T13:00:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-09T10:31:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":262,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Development\",\"Industrial\",\"National\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\\\/\",\"name\":\"Economy Watch: Architectural Billings Eke Out Gain in February - Commercial Property Executive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-24T13:00:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-09T10:31:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dc1e9fa4ee0430d86f8e60cd697c953c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Economy Watch: Architectural Billings Eke Out Gain in February\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Commercial Property Executive\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dc1e9fa4ee0430d86f8e60cd697c953c\",\"name\":\"Dees Stribling\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42add8af9e9229ed27332ad13f5b8c6f6ae89de868a41cf81baaac4ad46e589a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42add8af9e9229ed27332ad13f5b8c6f6ae89de868a41cf81baaac4ad46e589a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42add8af9e9229ed27332ad13f5b8c6f6ae89de868a41cf81baaac4ad46e589a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dees Stribling\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.commercialsearch.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/dcstribling\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Economy Watch: Architectural Billings Eke Out Gain in February - Commercial Property Executive","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Economy Watch: Architectural Billings Eke Out Gain in February","og_description":"Architecture billings inched back up in February after dipping into negative territory for the first time in five months in January.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\/","og_site_name":"Commercial Property Executive","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive","article_published_time":"2016-03-24T13:00:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-12-09T10:31:20+00:00","author":"Dees Stribling","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cpexecutive","twitter_site":"@cpexecutive","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\/"},"author":{"name":"Dees Stribling","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/dc1e9fa4ee0430d86f8e60cd697c953c"},"headline":"Economy Watch: Architectural Billings Eke Out Gain in February","datePublished":"2016-03-24T13:00:01+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-09T10:31:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\/"},"wordCount":262,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Development","Industrial","National","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\/","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\/","name":"Economy Watch: Architectural Billings Eke Out Gain in February - Commercial Property Executive","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-03-24T13:00:01+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-09T10:31:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/dc1e9fa4ee0430d86f8e60cd697c953c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-architectural-billings-eke-out-gain-in-february\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Economy Watch: Architectural Billings Eke Out Gain in February"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/","name":"Commercial Property Executive","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/dc1e9fa4ee0430d86f8e60cd697c953c","name":"Dees Stribling","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42add8af9e9229ed27332ad13f5b8c6f6ae89de868a41cf81baaac4ad46e589a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42add8af9e9229ed27332ad13f5b8c6f6ae89de868a41cf81baaac4ad46e589a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42add8af9e9229ed27332ad13f5b8c6f6ae89de868a41cf81baaac4ad46e589a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dees Stribling"},"url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/author\/dcstribling\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004140148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1023"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1004140148"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004140148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1004627071,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004140148\/revisions\/1004627071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1004140148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1004140148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1004140148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}