The Construction Costs Index of the A.C. of the Basque Country registered a 0.1% decrease in November 2003 in relation to the previous month, by which the inter-annual rate for the month came to 2.5%, according to EUSTAT data. The rate for the first eleven months of the year in relation to December, showed a 2.4% increase.

Over the inter-annual period (November 2003 in relation to November 2002) labour costs increased by 5.8%, while raw material costs registered a 0.2% increase.

The subsectors Building and Civil Works registered similar performances with a 0.1% decrease with regard to the previous month in both cases. The inter-annual evolution of these two subsectors showed that both grew, although to differing levels: Building costs grew 2.3%, while Civil Works accumulated a 3.1% increase.

Among the raw material prices related to the sector that were more inflationary in November 2003 were: Electric energy (1.6%), Cleaning and toiletry articles (0.7%), Plastic piping (0.7%), Office material (0.5%) and Iron and steel (0.4%). On the other hand, average monthly prices fell for the following raw materials: Work clothing (-3.9%), Oil and grease (-2.7%), Lime, gypsum and plaster (-2.6%), Glass (-1.8%) and Explosives and gases (-1.3%).