Images courtesy the American Institute of Architects

“Weakness in business conditions at architecture firms continues to be widespread, with declining billings across all major specializations and in every region except the Midwest,” elaborated AIA chief economist Kermit Baker. “However, inquiries for new projects continued to increase, and design activity at firms in the Midwest—a region that traditionally has had a disproportionate share of manufacturing activity—appears to have hit its bottom for this cycle and is expected to continue to improve.”

Images courtesy the American Institute of Architects

Looking at firm business activity region-by-region, the Midwest, which almost broke past the 50.0 mark in the last report with a score of 49.6, did manage to climb into positive territory with a score of 52.3. As mentioned by Baker, business at Midwestern firms is expected to continue this trajectory. All other regions—save for the Northeast—also saw a slight uptick but none of them significant enough to surpass a score of 50.

Billings remained weak at firms of all specialties, with institutional work–focused firms scoring the highest during this cycle with a still-soft 47.6, an increase from the previous score of 46.1.