Information from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) shows that architecture firms reported increasing demand for design services in June, according to the Architectural Billings Index (ABI).

The ABI score for June was 53.2, which is down slightly from May’s score of 53.5. It still indicates moderately strong business conditions overall, as any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings from the prior month. Also in June, both the new project inquiries and design contracts indexes moderated from May but continued to show growth, posting scores of 58.2 and 52.2 respectively.

“Ongoing project activity at architecture firms as well as new work coming online remains strong, pushing project backlogs up to seven months on average nationally,” said AIA chief economist, Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. “In spite of heavy workloads, employment at architecture firms has stabilized, suggesting that adding new employees is becoming even more challenging as the building construction sector continues to recover.”

The June ABI shows that regional averages were 57.8 for the West; 54.8 in the Midwest; 51.5 in the South; and the Northeast came in at 48.7.

The ABI for Multi-family residential was 52.6.

The regional and sector categories are calculated as a three-month moving average, whereas the national index, design contracts and inquiries are monthly numbers.

Visit AIA’s website for more ABI information.