AIA Billings Index Rose 1 Point to 45.3 in November

Washington, DC, December 20, 2023-The AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI) November score of 45.3 increased by one point from October, indicating slightly fewer firms reporting a decline in billings. Any score below 50.0 indicates decreasing business conditions but there are encouraging signs of the pipeline.

“This marks the seventh month in 2023 with a decline in billings. Over the past three months this pace of decline has accelerated, with firms in all specializations and in all regions of the country reporting weakening business conditions,” said Kermit Baker, PhD, AIA chief economist. "However, with signs that credit conditions are beginning to ease, firms are reporting an uptick in inquiries for future projects.”

Firms in all regions reported a decline in billings, with business conditions remaining softest at firms located in the West as the region’s billings hit a low for the year. Firms specializing in multi-family residential continue to remain the weakest and business conditions declined further at firms with institutional specialization, despite being the strongest to start 2023.

The ABI score is a leading economic indicator of construction activity, providing an

Regional averages were as follows Northeast (44.4); Midwest (49.0); South (46.7); West (39.5).

The Sector index breakdown was commercial/industrial (45.7); institutional (46.6); mixed practice (firms that do not have at least half of their billings in any one other category) (42.7); multifamily residential (42.1).

The project inquiries index was 56.9, and the design contracts index was 48.1.

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