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    Economy

    ABI Drops for Second Month in a Row

    Written by Sandy Williams


    The Architecture Billings Index declined in December to 48.5 from 49.8 in November, marking the first consecutive monthly decline since May and June of 2012. Chief Economist Kermit Baker was unsure why the demand for architectural services is slowing and attributes some of the decline to anxiety caused by the government shutdown. Baker said “it will be important to see how business conditions fare through the first quarter of the new year when we no longer have end of the year issues to deal with.”

    The new projects inquiry rose to 59.2 from a reading of 57.8 in November.

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