Less Work for Architects; Blip or Turning Point?

By Eliot Brown

For the first time since last summer, work for architects dipped in April, according to the American Institute of Architects Billings Index.

The index, which tracks changes in workloads by large architecture firms, registered a score of 48.6 in Aprilbelow 50 means work levels fell, while above 50 means they roseits worst score since July 2012.

To be sure, one data point in one month is nothing to get too worked up about. Kermit Baker, chief economist at the AIA, said small declines during past spring seasons have proved fleeting, and theres not yet reason to think this will last. We continue to hope that this time is different and this little dip were seeing right now is going to be short-lived, he said.

Architecture jobs tend to be a leading indicator of whats to come in the construction sector, as developers need multiple months of design work before they can start building. Should there indeed be less work over the next few months, it could portend a slowdown of construction of commercial real-estate projects.

Architecture work, like construction, fell dramatically during the real-estate bust, and has only seen a marginal recovery since. The amount of construction of office buildings and malls is still at low levels, with bank financing for such projects restrained.

Architecture jobs, Mr. Baker said, have been slowly trending up but very slowly.

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Less Work for Architects; Blip or Turning Point?