Correction appended on March 31, 2009

Whether it’s word of mouth or official government statistics, architecture employment news remains bleak. Average monthly paid employment for architects dropped from 209,000 in 2007 to 199,000 in 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Also according to federal statistics, January’s payroll at architecture firms was down 18,400 jobs, or 8 percent from the recent monthly high of 224,500 in July 2008, notes Kermit Baker, AIA chief economist. And it’s gone downhill since. “We’re still four or five quarters away from a significant design recovery,” he says.