The American Institute of Architects published the new economic report for the month of December this morning, indicating a considerable decline in demand for design services from U.S. architecture firms. The Architecture Billings Index dropped to a score of 42.6, well below November s 46.3 score.
AIA: Billings Take Another Hit in December architectmagazine.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from architectmagazine.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Construction Monthly Metals Index (MMI) ticked up 5.8% this month, as U.S. construction spending rose in November.
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U.S. construction spending
U.S. construction spending reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,459.4 billion in November, the Census Bureau reported this week.
The November rate marked a 0.9% increase from the previous month. Furthermore, the rate increased 3.8% year over year.
Meanwhile, construction spending through the first 11 months of 2020 totaled $1,314.1 billion, up 4.4% compared with the first 11 months of 2019.
Meanwhile, private construction reached a rate of $1,111.8 billion, or up 1.2% from October. Under the umbrella of private construction, residential construction reached $658.1 billion in November, or up 2.7%. Nonresidential construction dipped 0.8% to $453.8 billion.
The DOL reported:
In the week ending December 12, the advance figure for
seasonally adjusted initial claims was 885,000, an increase of
23,000 from the previous week s revised level. The previous week s level was revised up by 9,000 from 853,000 to
862,000. The 4-week moving average was 812,500, an increase of 34,250 from the previous week s revised average. The
previous week s average was revised up by 2,250 from 776,000 to 778,250.
emphasis addedThis does not include the 455,037 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) that was up from 415,037 the previous week.
The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since 1971.
Click on graph for larger image.
The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims increased to 812,500.