Non-residential construction numbers still looking good.Following the Census Bureau report indicating that January housing starts fell to their lowest level since 1997, 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. ), 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, showed positive conditions across all geographic regions and market sectors in January. 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 forecast remains favorable for the nonresidential construction market 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 January ABI rating was 57.9 (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings), compared to a score of 57.6 in December. "You have to go back 26 months for the last negative score for the index," said AIA chief economist Kermit Baker. "While the index was positive in 2006, it hovered around the break even mark for much of the year. So far the last three months have seen much higher levels of demand for design services and is likely to translate into sustained levels of high activity in the construction industry." Key January ABI highlights included regional average numbers: Northeast 76.0; South 55.6; Midwest 54.4 and; West 53.0. In the secont index breakdown the figures read: Mixed 59.6; institutional 58.8; commercial / industrial 57.2; residentia 52.1. Inquiries stood at 66.8, according to the report. Peter Lisnic, vice president, senior research analyst at Robert W. Baird Robert Wilson Baird (born April 1, 1883) helped found the financial services firm that bears his name and led it for more than 40 years. Baird’s father was a professor of Greek literature at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where Baird grew up. & Co. commented, "Continuing the momentum established in the fourth quarter of 2006, January's ABI clearly supports the outlook for healthy growth in nonresidential construction markets in 2007. "The strength of the ABI readings could even portend por·tend tr.v. por·tend·ed, por·tend·ing, por·tends 1. To serve as an omen or a warning of; presage: black clouds that portend a storm. 2. market growth above current consensus expectations, which may bolster investor appetite for stocks with nonresidential exposure. "One question from January's readings might be whether demand in the residential sector has indeed reached an inflection point." |
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