Construction materials prices were unchanged in July, but are up two percent year over year, according to the latest Producer Price Index release by the U.S. Labor Department. Nonresidential construction materials prices were down 0.1 percent for the month and are 1.8 percent higher than one year ago.
Key construction inputs that did not experience price increases for the month include fabricated structural metal products, which were unchanged and have been flat on a year-over-year basis.
Overall, the nation’s wholesale goods prices were flat in July and are 2.1 percent higher than the same time last year.
“According to today’s Producer Price Index report, nonresidential construction materials remained well behaved, with aggregate price levels falling 0.1 percent in July and inputs to nonresidential construction increasing less than 2 percent during the past year,” says Anirban Basu, the chief economist for the Associated Builders and Contractors . “Input price inflation is rarely so well contained.”
