Hasta La Ideas

Last month, we opened with a quote in the headline of a post, “It can’t get any worse — and then it does.” An apt statement indeed, as the American Institute of Architects has just released the sobering news that, for the fifth straight month, the Architecture Billings Index has dropped once again. Indicating increases and declines in billings within the industry (anything above or below 50, respectively), the Index fell more than a full point, down to 45.1, resulting in “the steepest decline in billings since February 2010.” Here’s a bit from the AIA’s resident numbers expert, who sounds as if he’s also dropping points and sliding down the Glum Index:

“Business conditions for architecture firms have turned down sharply,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “Late last year and in the first couple of months of this year there was a sense that we were slowly pulling out of the downturn, but now the concern is that we haven’t yet reached the bottom of the cycle. Current high levels of uncertainly in the economy don’t point to an immediate turnaround.”

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