Could we actually be seeing, dare we even let the thought cross our collective brains, a consistent upward trend? After years of being burnt in this exact situation, when the American Institute of Architects‘ monthly Architectural Billings Index would stay in the positive for a few months, only to plummet back and make everyone gloomy, we’re not entirely ready to dust off the helium tank and start filling up the balloons just yet, particularly because the ABI was actually down just a bit from last month. It’s currently at 50.4, a few notches lower than 51 in February, but as anything above 50 indicates an increase in billing, and provides a general sense of growth within the industry, we’ll take it. Here’s a bit from the AIA’s defender of the digits:

“We are starting to hear more about improving conditions in the marketplace, with a greater sense of optimism that there will be greater demand for design services,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “But that is not across the board and there are still a number of architecture firms struggling so progress is likely to be measured in inches rather than miles for the next few months.”