Cost Cuts

摘要

What a difference six months can make. During the third quarter of last year construction inflation was still reeling from the impact of record-high steel and oil prices set during the first half of 2008. By the first quarter of 2009, the inflation trend had com- pletely reversed itself. Most major construction cost indexes tracked by ENR declined this quar- ter. Materials producers are frantically cutting production as prices hit rock bottom. Construction's unemployment rate jumped into the double digits, and a severe credit crunch is pushing many subcontractors closer to the edge of bankruptcy.