What a contractor pays, against the national index
Source. BLS Producer Price Index, series WPUIP2311001, inputs to residential construction, goods, released August 13, 2026 (index 323.198 in July 2025 to 344.861 in July 2026); BLS CPI release, August 12, 2026.
Method and data
Method. Twelve-month changes computed from published index levels, all three not seasonally adjusted, the PPI at the September 4, 2026 vintage (BLS’s August 13 release). PPI and CPI measure different things — producer input costs against consumer prices — and are shown together not as rivals but to make one point: a firm buying materials in July 2026 faced cost growth 4.2 points above the core index that anchors the public conversation about whether inflation is beaten.
| Measure | Twelve-month change, % |
|---|---|
| PPI inputs to residential construction, goods | 6.7 |
| CPI-U all items | 3.36 |
| Core CPI | 2.48 |
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Higgins Strategy. “What a contractor pays, against the national index” Exhibit 5, Which Inflation? (Study I). October 12, 2026. https://higginsstrategy.com/charts/e1-5-construction-vs-cpi/