Demand for U.S. architectural services dropped last month, driving down a billings index, as developers concerned about slowing economic growth curtailed construction plans, the American Institute of Architects said.
The Architecture Billings Index dropped to 43.4 last month from 45.5 in April, the Washington-based institute said today in a statement. Any score below 50 indicates a decrease in billings from the previous month.
May marked the fourth month in a row the score was under 50, an indication that construction spending will decline into 2009, the institute said. The Architecture Billings Index is a leading indicator of development of offices, warehouses, apartments and other commercial buildings, with about nine to 12 months between billings and construction spending.
``Certainly the nervousness over the condition of the broader economy has caught on,'' Kermit Baker, chief economist of the American Institute of Architects, said in an interview. ``The mindset is we're going to see some weak economic growth in the months ahead. That's not a good time to bring developments on line.''
Architecture billings declined in three of the four U.S. regions tracked by the institute -- the South, the Northeast and the West -- and increased in the Midwest. The West had the lowest score, at 36.3, and the Midwest's score was 51.9 last month.
/ Source: Bloomberg
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