Depression in the Architectural Profession

Note that inquires stopped cold and reversed trend in July of 2008, when gas prices peaked. Exactly one month later the billings followed with precipitous slide, interestingly unaffected by the October market crash.

Note the fall and now pick up in Commercial/Industrial charting the gas prices. It doesn't look like the Institutional or Residential sector hit the bottom yet.

Despite the perception that West Coast is most impacted by the housing crisis after the boom, North East registers the worse business conditions at architecture firms. This could be speculatively explained by the building saturation (i.e. the region maxed out) or speculatively by the collapse of the NYC market, still proportionally a huge factor.