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 Survey finds economic improvement for landscape architecture firms
Even if at a slow pace, landscape architecture firms are seeing work pick up as economic recovery trends move in a positive direction.
The American Society of Landscape Architects Business Quarterly survey found more than half of the landscape architecture firm leaders that responded reported steady or increased billable hours and inquiries for new work. The numbers, from the third quarter of 2010, represented three straight quarters of positive findings.
According to the survey, 65.5 percent of firm leaders reported steady or above billable hours. Along those same lines, 69.9 percent reported steady or higher inquires for new work.
“We continue to see incremental signs of improvement, like work from projects originally put on hold due to the recession,” said ASLA Executive Vice President and CEO Nancy Somerville. “However, firms face significant hurdles due to lack of project financing and heavy competition for a still small new business pool.”
The most recent findings also represent the fourth time in the previous five quarters where firms reported average or above average levels of work.
However, the optimism has not transferred into new jobs, as firms take a wait-and-see approach. Only 14.6 percent of respondents said they planned to hire in the fourth quarter, which is down from 17.3 percent in the second quarter, but up from 11.8 percent in the third quarter of 2009.
Recession causes hardships for more than half of Americans
Talk of the recession has dominated conversations for years now and nearly everyone has been affected in some way. But the number of Americans who lost ground compared to those who held their own during the economic downturn is roughly the same.
A study by the Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends project found 55 percent of Americans faced a mix of hardships, usually a combination of unemployment, missed mortgage or rent payments, shrinking paychecks and shattered household budgets. That means 45 percent of the country was largely free of such difficulties.
The survey found Americans largely fell into the “lost ground” or “held their own” categories based on where they lived. Easterners were significantly more likely than residents of the South, West or Midwest to have done well during the economic downturn. Also Republicans and college graduates were defining characteristics of those who better weathered the storm.
Homeownership rate lowest since ’99
Foreclosures and a weak buying market have sent homeownership spiraling down to its lowest rate in more than a decade.
The U.S. Census Bureau said the homeownership rate for the third quarter of 2010 was 66.9 percent.
The results are flat with the second quarter of 2010 and match the fourth quarter of 1999 – the last time the rate dipped below 67 percent.
Homeownership rates by region were: 63.9 percent, Northeast; 71.1 percent, Midwest; 69.1 percent, South and 61.3 percent, West.
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