AIA ABI Index for month of November 2020. "

Per the AIA press release....

“Architecture firm billings declined for the ninth consecutive month in November. (2020).  The ABI score of 46.3 for the month indicates that the pace of the billings decline accelerated from October, after moderating in September and October (any score below 50 represents a decline in firm billings). The recent increase in COVID-19 cases over the last several weeks seems to have put a damper on the nascent recovery, and also appears to be reflected in a decline in the value of new design contracts in November, following their first increase since February last month. In addition, while inquiries into new work continued to rise, the pace of that growth slowed substantially from the previous two months. Together, these signs indicate that client interest in new projects has started to wane after more encouraging signs last month."

"Business conditions also remained soft across much of the country in November, with billings weakening most noticeably at firms located in the Northeast, which were also hardest hit earlier in the pandemic. However, architecture firms in the Midwest saw their billings rise slightly for the first time since January. In addition, this month firms with a multifamily residential specialization saw modest growth for the fourth consecutive month, as that sector remains the one bright spot amid the pandemic-induced downturn. But billings continued to decline at both firms with commercial/industrial and institutional specializations, with firms with a commercial/industrial specialization seeing a less dramatic decline, likely due to increased demand for distribution, logistics, data centers, and other industrial facilities recently.”

“However, firms remain modestly optimistic about 2021”

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Blog publisher's comment:  I am extremely concerned that a nine-consecutive-months decline in the AIA ABI Index could reasonably be construed as predicting a “no recovery” situation (i.e., there will be no recovery) for reprographers in 2021, at least with respect to revenues generated from A/E/C reprographics services.