Architectural billings remain subdued

The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) organized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Virginia-based information services firm Deltek declined to 43.2 based on April 2025 survey results.

According to the Washington-based AIA, billings have declined for 28 of the last 31 months, maintaining a trend into negative territory “following the post-pandemic boom.”

As the index in calculated, any score under 50 indicates architectural firm billings are lower than they were the previous month. “The ABI serves as a leading economic indicator that leads nonresidential construction activity by approximately 9 to 12 months,” says the AIA.

“Despite generally strong backlogs at firms, inquiries into new work declined for the third consecutive month in April, while the value of new design contracts declined at the majority of firms for the 14th consecutive month,” writes the association.

Adds the AIA, “Although the United States economy is not officially in a recession at this time, many architecture firms are reporting recession-like business conditions.”

Regionally, AIA and Deltek says architecture firm business conditions remained softest at firms located in the Northeast for the seventh consecutive month in April. Conditions also have softened significantly at firms located in the West since the beginning of the year, the survey indicates.

Regarding construction sectors, billings continued to decline at firms across the board in April, although the AIA singles out firms with commercial/industrial and multifamily residential specializations as having slowed most significantly.

The pace of the decline remains slower at firms with an institutional specialization, but billings have still declined nearly every month since mid-2023 for that sector, according to the AIA.

“Conditions in the broader economy have remained relatively stable recently,” adds the association, noting that nonfarm payroll employment grew at a steady pace, adding 177,000 new positions in April, according to government statistics.

With tariff policies gaining headlines this year, AIA says it asked architecture firms about their engagement with international projects, defined as projects that will be built outside of the U.S., either for a foreign or domestic client. Fewer than one in 10 firms report recent billings from such projects.

In its analysis of government data, the Virginia-based Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) says construction employment increased in 32 states and the District of Columbia this April compared with one year earlier. However, only 24 states added construction jobs between March and April 2025.

The latter figure compares with 27 states increasing construction payroll from January to February of this year and 26 states adding jobs from November to December of 2024.