Cushman & Wakefield Report Shows U.S. Construction Cost Pressures Shift From Labor to Materials as Metals Prices Surge
Cushman & Wakefield's latest Construction Insights for Global Occupiers report finds U.S. construction cost pressures shifting from labor to materials, with construction-related commodity prices up 13.3% year over year — more than 4.7 times the rate recorded a year earlier. Metals are leading the surge: aluminum up 40.9%, copper base scrap up 39.3% and nonferrous metals up 38.5%, while skilled labor cost growth moderated to 1.5% against a 4.7% rise in the ENR Building Cost Index.
Key figures
- Revenue
- $10.3 billion
- Revenue period
- FY2025
- Switchgear yoy
- 9.0%
- Employees approx
- 53000
- Aluminum price yoy
- 40.9%
- Metro costs yoy q2
- 4.42%
- New starts may mom
- 33.5%
- New starts june mom
- -20%
- Concrete pricing yoy
- 6.4%
- Copper base scrap yoy
- 39.3%
- Nonferrous metals yoy
- 38.5%
- Skilled labor cost yoy
- 1.5%
- Data center backlog months
- 11
- Infrastructure backlog yoy
- 7.9%
- Architectural billings june
- 46.7
- Contractor pricing yoy june
- 4.3%
- Materials annual growth august
- 8.5%
- Non data center backlog months
- 8.5
- Enr building cost index yoy aug
- 4.7%
- Germany construction cost growth
- 3.9%
- Us construction cost qoq q1 2026
- 0.7%
- Construction commodity prices yoy
- 13.3%
- Electrical machinery equipment yoy
- 13.0%
- Infrastructure backlog months june
- 10.1
- Commodity growth vs prior year rate
- 4.7x
- South korea construction cost growth
- 6.4%
AI analysis
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