Billings saw month-over-month growth in August, and demand for design services in all geographic regions and building sectors remains in positive territory.
August ABI: Healthy Demand Across All Regions and Sectors
Job Creation Outpaces Expectations; Invigorates Commercial Real Estate Space Demand
Professional and business services plus financial services employment are expanding faster than the overall labor market, boosting office absorption over the last 12 months.
Fact Check: Trump's Shaky Claims on Climate Accord
Announcing that the U.S. will withdraw from the Paris climate accord, President Donald Trump misplaced the blame for what ails the coal industry and laid a shaky factual foundation for his decision. A look at some of the claims in a Rose Garden speech and an accompanying fact sheet about the deal to curtail emissions responsible for global warming:
Our Disgraceful Exit From the Paris Accord
Only future generations will be able to calculate the full consequences of President Trump’s incredibly shortsighted approach to climate change, since it is they who will suffer the rising seas and crippling droughts that scientists say are inevitable unless the world brings fossil fuel emissions to heel.
Trump’s Budget Is An Assault On America’s Creative Soul
Yesterday, the Trump administration submitted its 2018 budget proposal to Congress. As predicted, there are deep cuts to virtually every department. Some of the hardest hit? The EPA (down 31%), the State Department (down 29%), and the USDA (down 21%), and the Department of Health and Human Services (down 18%).
The negative consequences to public health, food safety, rural development, and the environment could be dire. But what really stings is the elimination of arts and science programs. Gutting the National Endowment of the Arts and National Endowment of the Humanities–which represent just 0.02% of the overall budget–is not a cost-saving measure. It’s a petty political vendetta that’s symbolically undermining the creative soul of America.
AIA expresses ‘deep concern’ about immigration and travel restrictions
Three weeks after the Trump administration enacted a travel ban on citizens of seven majority-Muslim nations, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has released a statement on immigration and the impact of “unilateral travel restrictions” on the building development, design, and construction sectors.
“Beyond the essential considerations of fairness and equity, restrictions targeting specific areas of the world can have profoundly negative business impacts,” AIA President Thomas Vonier said in the statement.
For the architecture industry, this means potential hindrances to regular business travel by employees and clients, recruitment of talent from other countries, and the success of international students and faculty in architecture higher education.
As small businesses struggle, these U.S. cities are helping entrepreneurs thrive
Whether it’s a single block of stores in an idyllic small town or the business district of a bustling urban square, every vision of Main Street America has something in common: a panoply of small businesses, symbols of American opportunity and success.
But in today’s economy, that vision often looks as realistic as a Rockwell painting. According to Dynamism in Retreat, a new report by the Economic Innovation Group, a bipartisan public policy think tank, small businesses aren’t just suffering—they’re in the midst of a striking, and historic, decline.
“We’re adding businesses at the most anemic rate in history,” says John Lettieri, cofounder and senior director for policy and strategy at EIG. “We’re five full years into the recovery, and you still see an inability to get anywhere near historic norms for business formation. It’s a structural shift.”
Architecture Billings Reach Highest Level Since 2007
The monthly Architecture Billings Index (ABI) came in at a score of 55.9 in December, up 5.3 points from November's 50.6, the American Institute of Architects announced today.
The ABI is a leading economic indicator of construction activity in the U.S., and reflects a nine- to 12-month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending nationally, and regionally, as well as by project type. A score above 50, like this month, represents an increase in billings from the previous month, while a score under 50 represents a contraction.
Confidence Is High For US Construction Industry
JLL’s new report on the state of the US construction industry may not be as optimistic as the outlook it published earlier in the year, but Todd Burns, president, project and development services, tells GlobeSt.com that confidence, though tempered, remains high.
“Clearly, we all know we’ve been riding a nice wave over the past few years,” he says, and it may be difficult for the economy to sustain its current level of construction activity. For one thing, “people are unsure about the results of the recent presidential election, and that means there are some unknowns.”
“Made in Italy” could see booming exports to US slow with Trump
Giuliano Mosconi, president of Tecno (€35 million in revenue, including €4 million in the U.S.), which produces made-to-order office furniture and in 2017 will open centers for logistics and processing in New York and Atlanta, was surprised by the outcome of the U.S. vote. But he said the company's “office furniture is sufficiently distinctive, as many items Made in Italy often are, that they'll [be fine]. I don't think they will be penalized in the medium term. We've also grown significantly and created a logistics hub to keep up with the rhythms and timing of U.S. delivery.”
"How Donald Trump will solve America's infrastructure problems is completely unclear"
Hillary Clinton's plans to improve infrastructure in the USA weren't ambitious enough, but at least she had plans, says Aaron Betsky in this Opinion column.
America needs a lot of work. Its roads and bridges are crumbling. Its airports are a mess. It has virtually no long-distance public transportation system. Below the surface, sewers and water lines are leaking billions of gallons. Something needs to be done. Will President Trump do it? Nobody knows.
There was a plan. In her election platform, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton promised $275 billion in infrastructure investment. All but $25 billion of that would have come from the federal government, and she says she would have paid for it with new taxes on the wealthy.
The $25 billion would, she claimed, have leveraged another $250 billion in private investment. Trump has no more than the notion that he will come up with such a plan and spend a trillion dollars, which at least is a lot more than Clinton would have.
Just about every presidential candidate for the last three decades has promised to address the deferred maintenance all around us and help build a better base for economic growth and social cohesion. In 1992, I wrote several articles about the massive investments in infrastructure presidential candidate Bill Clinton promised. I even bought stock in construction companies I thought would benefit from the coming boom. I was wrong.
Architects in shock as Trump wins US election
The controversial billionaire businessman and Republican candidate beat Democrat contender Hillary Clinton in a result which has surprised many in the profession and around the world.
Trump, who made the headlines with a series of outbursts including his proposals to build a ‘great, great wall’ between the US and Mexico, is the first president in modern times to take office without any governmental or military experience.
US architect Stephan C Reinke of London-based Stephan Reinke Architects described the news as ’disappointing’, adding: ’The US is a deeply divided nation, so not really surprised. [I’m now] hoping now for a positive way forward.’
What will Donald Trump's presidency mean for architects?
In January, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. What will a Trump White House mean for architects and the profession? As described in AIA's 2016 presidential candidate profiles, here are President-elect Trump's stated stances on energy, international trade, small businesses, and other issues that matter to architects.
The U.S. Adds 161,000 Jobs in October, Sees Solid Wage Growth
The U.S. economy added 161,000 nonfarm payroll positions in October, according to today's monthly employment report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This seasonally adjusted figure—a slight drop from September's upwardly revised addition of 191,000 jobs—falls short of the Wall Street Journal's expectation of 173,000. Economists say the slower job addition in October could be partially attributed to Hurricane Matthew, which left a dent on the economy in the Southeast, according to Wall Street Journal.
The national unemployment rate was roughly stable at 4.9 percent, while the labor-force participation rate was little changed at 62.8 percent. Average hourly wages for private, nonfarm workers continued to a rise to $25.92 in October, a 10-cent gain month-over-month, compared to the eight-cent increase in September. Dan North, chief economist at Euler Hermes North America, a trade credit insurance firm, told CNBC that the solid wage growth would possibly lead to a rate hike by the Federal Reserve in December, a move that has been expected by many economists.
Industrial robots will replace manufacturing jobs — and that’s a good thing
If you listen to the wrong people, the North American manufacturing industry is doomed.
There is no denying that the U.S. and Canada have been losing jobs to offshore competition for almost half a century. From 2000 to 2010 alone, 5.6 million jobs disappeared.
Interestingly, though, only 13 percent of those jobs were lost due to international trade. The vast remainder, 85 percent of job losses, stemmed from “productivity growth” — another way of saying machines replacing human workers.
For many, this scenario is even worse. China and Mexico may be “taking our jobs,” but at least they’re going to other humans. Robots, on the other hand, allegedly threaten to wipe entire sectors, like manufacturing, right off the map. The level of fear-mongering here is high: “How to Keep Your Job When Robots Take Over.” “Is a robot about to take your job?” “What Governments Can Do When Robots Take Our Jobs.” It’s enough to make anyone a little nervous.
The facts, however, tell a different story. Over the last 20 years, inflation-adjusted U.S. manufacturing output has increased by almost 40 percent, and annual value added by U.S. factories has reached a record $2.4 trillion. While there are fewer jobs, more is getting done. Manufacturing employees are better educated, better paid and producing more valuable products — including the technology that enables them to be so much more productive.
In fact, there are currently two million jobs going unfulfilled in the manufacturing sector, largely due to an aging workforce — the average age of a manufacturing worker is almost 45, two and a half years above the national non-farm median — and negligible interest in those jobs from younger generations.
Tax Savings with Commercial Furniture Purchases: Using Section 179
Business owners all over the country are watching the debates and the news regarding Donald Trump's alleged ability to avoid paying corporate taxes for nearly two decades. Minds are spinning.
Our trusted finance partner, Jim Wall, at Horizon Keystone recently reminded me of a fantastic way to work through tax planning issues in a profitable year. It's called Section 179 of the tax code, and it allows for accelerated depreciation of assets (like corporate office furniture and fixtures). By accelerating depreciation of furniture purchases, a business can legally reduce tax liability.
U.S. Architecture Firms See a Near-Complete Recovery Since Great Recession
The American Institute of Architects’ latest survey reports that building design revenue topped to nearly $28 billion in 2015. According to the Institute, this surge has brought U.S. firms back to a near-complete recovery from the Great Recession, and is now allowing its leaders to reinvest profits back into their businesses.
The U.S. Adds 156,000 Jobs in September
The U.S. economy added 156,000 nonfarm payroll positions in September, according to the latest monthly employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), released this morning. This seasonally adjusted figure—a slight drop from August's upwardly revised addition of 167,000 jobs—falls short of the Wall Street's expectation. The national unemployment rate ticked up to 5.0 percent, while the labor-force participation rate stood at 62.9 percent. Average hourly wages for private, nonfarm workers continued to rise to $25.79 in September, a 6-cent gain month-over-month.
ADP: 154,000 Jobs Added in September
The U.S. economy added 154,000 private, non-farm jobs in September, according to the monthly employment report released today by payroll-management firm ADP and its partner Moody's Analytics. The seasonally adjusted number reflects a decrease from July's downward-revised 175,000 jobs, and marks a 10 percent drop from September 2015, when 171,000 new jobs were added.
ADP: 177,000 Jobs Added in August
Construction contracts, small businesses see growth. The U.S. economy added 177,000 private, non-farm jobs in August, according to the monthly employment report released today by payroll-management firm ADP and its partner Moody's Analytics. The seasonally adjusted number reflects a modest decrease from July's upward-revised gain of 194,000 jobs, and marks a nearly 12 percent drop from August 2015, when 201,000 new jobs were added. Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi remains bullish about employment and the economy overall, however.