Producer prices soar

U.S. companies’ costs to provide goods and services during April spiked 6% from a year earlier, marking the biggest annual increase since December 2022, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. Also known as wholesale prices, producer prices often affect consumer inflation, which reached a three-year high of 3.8% in April, the government reported earlier this week.

Like consumers, U.S. firms were hit hard in April by a 7.8% jump in producer energy prices from the prior month, spurred largely by a 15.6% spike in gasoline costs. That affected numerous segments of the economy that rely on transportation services, with truck freight costs rising 8.1% for the month and 15.2% from April 2025.

The Associated General Contractors of America noted diesel prices climbed 13.6% from the prior month and increased 73.8% from a year earlier. Project developers were also pressured by a 1.7% monthly rise and a 6.6% annual jump in nonresidential construction materials. Asphalt prices rose 18% on an annual basis, with milled aluminum materials up 37.3%.

“Construction input costs continue to rise much faster than contractors’ bid prices, particularly for energy-intensive and metals-related materials,” Macrina Wilkins, the contractor group’s director of market insights, said in a statement Wednesday. “That gap is making it increasingly difficult for contractors to accurately price projects and raising the risk of delays, redesigns, and deferred construction activity if cost volatility persists.”

The National Association of Home Builders said material prices for residential projects, excluding energy, rose 3.7% from a year earlier, the biggest annual jump in three years. With all material and service expenses factored in, April’s new residential construction costs rose 1.3% from the prior month and 5.9% from a year earlier, the builder group said.