The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Interior Design Billings Index exhibited a slight increase at the close of the third quarter on September 30 with a steady rise to 55.3, up 1.9 points over August's score of 53.4, which was also a two-point increase over 51.4 in July. The inquiry index also rose from 58.8 in August to 59.5 in September.

"I expect GDP growth to remain rather modest in the fourth quarter," says Jack Kleinhenz, ASID economist. "While it is encouraging that economic growth has picked up in the third quarter, I remain cautious on the U.S. outlook until there is more clarity on outstanding fiscal issues."

The strongest scores come from small firms with nine or fewer employees, while firms with more than nine employees reported no change in billings. Sole practitioners reported a five-point increase over August.

Since January 2012, the Midwest, South, and West regions have reported monthly billing increases, while the Northeast has gained points in each of the past two months. For September, the Midwest scored 52 points; the South scored 57 points; the West scored 50 points; and the Northeast scored 55 points. By sector, residential is the strongest at 52 points while institutional billings registered at 48 points. The commercial billings index lags at 40 points.

Results are a compilation of monthly surveys of 300 firms. 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. ASID has tracked performance data for billings, inquiries, and product sales specific to the interior design industry since November 2010.

For more information, visit asid.org/idindex.