Data from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Business Performance Index shows business conditions across the interior design industry continued to improve through June 2011. Both the billing and the industry indexes remained above 50 for eight consecutive months, signaling the industry’s economic expansion.
Business conditions have been varied according to sector, region and firm size. Sole practitioners and larger firms of 25 or more employees have experienced growth in billings since April 2011, while firms with two to nine and 10 to 24 employees reported that billings have either stabilized or declined. Interior design firms in the South, West and Northeast had a June billings index score of above 50, indicating growth. Firms in the Midwest had been consistently above 50 since February 2011 but reported billings decreases in June. The multifamily residential sector and hospitality sector showed a growth in billings for June, while single-family home and other commercial sectors showed decreases.
“While we are seeing modest improvement, rising non-labor costs, such as oil and limited construction and employment growth, are making for a bumpy road to a stronger recovery across the industry,” said Michael Berens, director of research and knowledge resources for ASID. “Despite these factors, the long-term economic outlook remains positive among the firms surveyed.”
The survey was taken weeks before the recent stock market volatility and layoff announcements in the financial sector. These events are not represented in the survey results or in the analysis.
The ASID business performance index tracks performance data for billings, inquiries and product sales specific to the interior design industry. The index is based on a monthly survey of 300 firms and provides a tailored perspective on billings, business conditions and economic outlook. The results are compiled into diffusion indexes centered on 50, with scores above 50 indicating an increase in billings, and scores below 50 indicating a decline. More information on the index can be found at www.asid.org/idindex.
