Construction costs cool but still squeeze contractors; Reed says starts rise

The producer price index for finished goods fell 0.6 percentin June, not seasonally adjusted (0.5 percent, seasonally adjusted), and rose 2.8 percentcompared to June 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Thursday [July 15]. The PPI for inputs to construction industries, a weighted average of prices for materials used in all types of construction plus items consumed by contractors (such as diesel fuel), dropped 0.9 percentfor the month but was 4.2 percenthigher year-over-year, according to a July 16 Data DIGest report

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