For the first time in 18 months, the majority of landscape architecture firm leaders reported normal or above levels of work compared to the previous quarter, according to the latest American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Business Quarterly survey.
For the third quarter of 2009, 51.3 percent of firms reported average or above billings compared to the second quarter 2009, a significant increase over 32 percent last quarter.
Additionally, 55.4 percent of firms reported average or above inquiries for the same time frame, up from 32.2 percent last quarter.
One in five firms (20.2 percent) reported work directly related to stimulus funds.
Despite increased optimism, the job market still remains weak as only 11.8 percent of firms plan to hire in the upcoming quarter, down from 14.3 percent previously and near the all-time low of 11.2 percent from the first quarter of this year.
"Obviously this represents excellent economic progress, but the industry still faces a long road to recovery and tough challenges through at least the rest of this year," said ASLA Executive Vice President and CEO Nancy Somerville, Hon. ASLA.
"While there appears some improvement in public and commercial work, the residential market remains a significant problem for landscape architecture firms."