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There were food courts, then there were food trucks. Now, the latest trend to fill the needs of today’s fast-paced culinary crowd is the food hall. Though the Todd English Food Hall at The Plaza hotel in Manhattan is generally credited with starting this latest development trend, the idea of creating a large space with multiple vendors offering fresh, locally sourced fare, is nothing new to California. Pair that with a little natural sunlight and communal seating, and you have the recipe for success in the sun-worshiping state. “California has long suffered a dearth of quality fast-casual dining,” says Anthony Deen, creative director of branded environments for CBX, a New York-based creative marketing service that specializes in food halls, among other things. “Pretty much every neighborhood in California has one great cheap place to eat, but to get variety, customers have to follow food trucks around. Food halls will solve these problems.” Though the food hall scene has not yet penetrated every region of California, its presence is definitely felt up and down the coast. It started with classics like the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco, Grand Central Market in Downtown Los Angeles and the Original Farmer’s Market, which …

Weak job growth in May has dealt an “employment curveball” to the U.S. economy, says Robert Bach, director of research for the Americas at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. But the longtime economist is quick to add that the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is an “outlier among a recent string of positive economic news,” including an uptick in both consumer spending and housing prices and a drop in weekly jobless claims. Employers added a meager 38,000 net new payroll jobs last month, according to the BLS, far below the 160,000 jobs forecasted in Bloomberg’s survey of economists. Revisions to March and April data subtracted a combined 59,000 jobs, revealing a three-month trend of slowing job growth. Over the past three months, job gains have averaged 116,000 per month. “If the report is not a quirk, then it suggests the economy, specifically the labor market, may be losing momentum,” says Bach. Employers could be reacting to falling profits and labor productivity, which have been under pressure for some time. It’s also possible that recent hikes in the minimum wage are restraining job formation — although restaurants would be among the first employers to feel the pinch, …

WASHINGTON, D.C. — After beginning the year with a decline, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) has posted three consecutive months of increasing demand for design activity at architecture firms. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the April ABI score was 50.6, down from the mark of 51.9 in March but still in the positive territory. The score reflects an increase in design activity, with any score above 50 indicating an increase in billings. A barometer of future non-residential construction activity, the ABI reflects the roughly nine- to 12-month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending. The index is produced by The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Economics & Market Research Group. The score is tabulated based on a monthly survey sent to a panel of AIA member-owned architecture firms. The design contracts index jumped from 51.8 in March to 54.3 in April. The metric tracks trends in the dollar volume of signed design contracts, with any score above 50 reflecting a growing value of the design contracts signed by AIA member-owned firms. Because the design contracts index functions as an early indicator of construction contract awards, Kermit Baker, AIA’s chief economist, is confident that the growth in the …