A new ABC report says that everything it takes to build has increased over the past year.
Construction input prices were up 2.6 percent in May compared to the previous month and jumped 9.6 percent compared to a year ago, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index. For commercial construction input prices, the numbers are only slightly better, up 1.6percent month over month and 8 percent higher than a year ago.
Much of the recent increase has come in the energy subcategories, with crude petroleum prices jumping 11.8 percent while unprocessed energy materials increased 6.9 percent. Conversely, natural gas prices were down 18.2 percent in May.
“Construction input prices surged again in May and are now up nearly 10 percent year over year,” said ABC chief economist Anirban Basu. “Oil prices, pushed higher by the ongoing Iran conflict, made a significant contribution to the rise in overall materials prices, yet the greater concern is the continuing price growth in tariff-affected inputs like iron, steel and copper.”
Associated Builders and Contractors is a national construction industry trade association established in 1950 with 67 chapters and 24,000 members.
