The American Institute of Architects/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI) reports that business conditions continued to drop at architectural firms in October, dipping slightly to 44.3 from September's score of 44.8 (any score below 50.0 indicates decreasing business conditions).This marks the third consecutive month where the ABI score was below 50.

“This report indicates not only a decrease in billings at firms, but also a reduction in the number of clients exploring and committing to new projects, which could potentially impact future billings," said AIA chief economist Kermit Baker. "The soft conditions were evident across the entire country as well as across all major nonresidential building sectors.”

Firms in the West and Northeast regions showed the sharpest decline in business conditions for the second consecutive month.