Latest billings show construction sector keeping momentum going into 2007.Following a six point jump in November, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI Abi (ā`bī) [short for Abijah], in the Bible, King Hezekiah's mother. (Application Binary Interface) A specification for a specific hardware platform combined with the operating system. ) increased even more in December and finished 2006 with its highest score. The commercial / industrial sector recorded its highest reading in the history of the survey that originated in 1995, while scores in the institutional market also showed improvement. With an approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending Construction Spending An economic indicator that measures the amount of spending towards new construction. Released monthly by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Census Bureau, it looks at residential and non-residential construction in the private sector, and state and federal at , the ABI is a leading economic indicator leading economic indicator An economic or a financial variable that tends to move ahead of and in the same direction as general economic activity. Compare lagging economic indicator. See also index of leading economic indicators. of construction activity, and should translate into a high level of activity throughout 2007. The American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Organized in 1857, the Institute conducts various activities and programs to support the profession and enhance its public image, including periodically awarding the AIA (AIA AIA - Application Integration Architecture ) reported the December ABI rating was 59.5 up from 57.4 in November (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). "Despite a sluggish economy Sluggish Economy A state in the economy in which the growth is slow, flat or declining. The term can refer to the economy as a whole or a component of the economy, such as weak housing starts. , there is no sign of a slowdown in nonresidential construction activity in the foreseeable future," said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. "This is very positive news for the construction industry and those markets affected by it because 2006 ended on a strong rebound, after trending down for most of the first 10 months." Key December ABI highlights: Regional averages: Northeast (69.7), West (61.2), Midwest (56.1), South (52.1); Sector index breakdown: commercial / industrial (63.0) institutional (60.2), mixed (57.8), residential (49.3); Inquiries index: 58.5 SunTrust Robinson Humphrey business services analyst, Mark Hughes stated, "These very solid billings are further confirmation that the construction market has retained momentum going into 2007 and that growth should be solid over the next several quarters. "This is important, timely information in light of the drift in many construction-related stocks since mid-year. Additional favorable data points such as this should help boost investor confidence in the sector.'" |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion