Ongoing economic instability has led to a decline in billings reported by the American Institute of Architects’ AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI) in April. The overall score declined from a high of 49.8 in March to 48.3 last month. Despite national architecture firm billings failing to cross the 50-point threshold indicating positive growth, inquiries into new projects increased for the third consecutive month and the value of new design contracts continued to edge a return to growth.
Business conditions remained soft across all regions of the U.S. in April, with none reporting growth. Firms out West maintained their status as the least likely to report a decline in billings, while firms down South reported that billings softened despite initial signs of promise at the start of 2026. Billings also continued to decline at firms with a commercial/industrial specialization, which remains the weakest sector over the last six months. Firms with institutional and multifamily specializations did, however, report modest growth in April.
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