WASHINGTON - The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) released its latest Construction Inflation Alert (CIA) and warned of an inflation rate for construction materials of 6-8 percent, with periods of 10 percent increases possible.
"Private owners, public agencies that do budgeting and design, and contractors should all be aware that construction materials prices are likely to keep rising at a much faster rate than the 3-4 percent increase in the consumer price index (CPI) or broad producer price index (PPI) for finished goods," said Ken Simonson, AGC's chief economist. "If these increases continue, I'm concerned that the inflation rate for construction materials could be double the rate of overall inflation."