The Construction Costs Index of the A.C. of Euskadi grew 0.2%
in March 2002, according to Eustat data. The inter-annual variation, March 2002
on March 2001, shows a 1.7% increase in costs and the rate for the first three
months of the year on last December came to 2.3%.
The increase in the cost of raw materials (0.4%) marked the
trend of the general index for March, as the other component, labour costs,
did not vary at all in the monthly period. However, in the inter-annual period,
labour costs registered a 3.5% increase compared with 0.5% for raw materials.
The sub-sectors "Building" and "Civil Works" performed
differently in the month of March: raw materials for the former increased 0.3%
and 0.6% for the latter. However, the differences disappear in the inter-annual
evolution, as raw materials for the sub-sectors in March, on the same month
the previous year, obtained an identical rate of 0.5% in both cases.
Among the prices of raw materials consumed by the sector that
rose most in the month of March 2002 were: "Oil by-products" (6.9%), "Articles
derived from cement" (1.6%), "Oil and greases" (1.6%) and "Paint and varnish"
(1.0%), amongst others.
The inter-annual evolution of prices marked significant price
increases for the costs of different products consumed: "Artificial cement"
(5.3%), "Manual tools" (5.1%), "Work clothing" (4.8%), "Paint and varnish" (4.7%),
" Machinery accessories" (4.3%), and "Articles derived from cement" (3.1%),
among others.