Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

School Building Costs

Once thought to be virtually recession-proof, the school construction market is starting to falter, undercutting building costs associated with that market. Since the beginning of last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ producer price index for new school building construction costs has fallen 2.3%, according to the BLS November 2009 index. The cost index is still up 2.2% from a year ago, but this is well below the year-to-year increases of 7.5% in 2008, 9.9% in 2007 and 8.3% in 2006. Through the first eleven months of 2009, public school construction was up just 1.9% for the year, while private school construction posted a 9.7% decline, according to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce.