Dive summary:
- While most of the economy is seeing very low inflation in the aftermath of the recession, contractors are seeing materials buck the trend and rise 2% to 4% per year, including 2012.
- Their prices are guided by the general economy's slow growth, so rising materials prices are cutting into their profits.
- Associated General Contractors predicts that while overall inflation, measured by changes in the Consumer Price Index, will run at 2% to 3% per year over the next five years, construction materials will keep going up by 3% to 8% annually.
From the article:
Winning bids for highway construction projects, tracked by the Federal Highway Administration's National Highway Construction Cost Index, are rising from a late-recession dip, and have yet to regain their March 2009 levels. ...
