Data from the American Institute of Architects showed growth across all geographic regions, and in all major construction sectors in June 2014.
The American Institute of Architects reported its Architecture Billings Index for June was 53.3, following a healthy reading of 52.6 in May. (Scores above 50 indicate billings growth, scores below 50 indicate billings decline).
“This upturn suggests that design activity may be entering a stronger phase after weak quarters at the end of last year and the beginning of this one. Particularly encouraging is that new design contracts at architecture firms have risen sharply in each of the past three months,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker in an AIA release. “The pace of growth for this indicator in June was the fastest in the almost four years that the AIA has been gathering this information.”
June’s ABI demonstrated growth across all geographic regions, and in all major construction sectors. Residential construction led growth with a June ABI of 57.7, followed by Commercial/Industrial at 53.1, and Institutional at 50.2. Baker said the ABI, along with other recent economic indicators, point to improvement in the economy for the remainder of 2014.
“Over 800,000 net new payroll positions were created at U.S. businesses in the second quarter, on top of 570,000 created during the relatively weak first quarter. That puts job growth on pace to create almost 2.8 million new jobs this year, which if achieved, would be the strongest year for job growth since 1999,” he said.