The American Institute of Architects/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI) shows continued decline in business conditions at architecture firms for the eighth consecutive month, reporting a score of 45.4, essentially flat from November's score of 45.4 (any score below 50.0 indicates decreasing business conditions). Many firms have reported an increase in project delays, holds, and cancellations over the past six months—AIA/Deltek found that nearly 30 percent of all projects (on a dollar basis) have been impacted by such economic hold-ups.

“The last four months saw this overall weakness accelerate," said AIA chief economist Kermit Baker. "Fortunately, project backlogs at firms eased only slightly through the year despite the overall reported softness in billings.”