Business conditions remained soft across all regions in April, with no area reporting overall growth. Firms in the West were the least likely to see declining billings for the third straight month, while firms in the South reported further softening after early-year signs of improvement. By specialization, institutional and multifamily residential firms posted modest growth in April—an encouraging signal that new projects may be emerging. Meanwhile, billings continued to decline at commercial/industrial firms, which has remained one of the weakest sectors over the past six months.

Despite these factors, inquiries into new projects increased for the third consecutive month in April, and the value of new design contracts remained close to returning to growth.

“April’s economic picture was mixed as employers continued to add jobs, but inflation accelerated as higher energy prices tied to the conflict in Iran drove up costs,” said AIA Chief Economist, Richard Branch. “While a proposed gas tax holiday could offer some short term relief, energy prices are unlikely to ease meaningfully until the conflict ends.”

Key ABI highlights for April include:

• Regional averages: West (49.0); Midwest (48.0); South (47.7); Northeast (47.2)
• Sector index breakdown: multifamily residential (51.5); institutional (51.1); commercial/industrial (48.9); mixed practice (firms that do not have at least half of their billings in any one other category) (42.5)
• Project inquiries index: 57.7
• Design contracts index: 48.0

Click here to view the ABI April 2026 Report.