Inflation Reverses Course As Recession Floors Prices.

The article examines the impact of the recession on inflation in the U.S. construction industry. Construction inflation fell from double-digits in the summer of 2008 to between 2% and 6% in the first quarter of 2009 while ten of the 14 major industry cost indexes posted declines during the quarter, ranging from 0.5% to 8.4%. According to John Anton, steel analyst for IHS Global Insight, the prices of structural steel and rebar are about half of their peaks in 2008.