Following an eight-month decline, construction material prices edged up 0.5 percent in May, according to a June 16 producer price index report by the U.S. Labor Department. However, prices are still down 5.3 percent from last May.

“The monthly increase in construction materials prices was not entirely unexpected, but it is still cause for concern,” said Anirban Basu, chief economist with Associated Builders and Contractors Inc., adding that many of the construction industry’s key sectors, including office and commercial, remain soft.

“For these construction segments to rebound, there must be a combination of positive factors, including well-behaved interest rates, reasonably priced construction materials and spreading economic momentum and prosperity,” Basu said.

The price of fabricated ferrous wire edged up 0.5 percent in May from April, its first increase since October 2008. Prepared asphalt and tar roofing was up 1.3 percent for the month, and plumbing fixtures and fittings prices were unchanged.

Prices for fabricated structural metal products continue to decrease, dipping 0.7 percent from April and down 2 percent since May 2008. Softwood lumber prices fell 2.1 percent for the month and are down 18.4 percent for the year.

Basu said increases in commodity prices in May from April, including a 5.3 percent hike in crude energy and 18.6 percent spike in crude petroleum, could “represent an emerging challenge to the nation’s construction momentum because they compromise a necessary asset of the recovery to come.”

“Should construction materials prices continue to rise in the months ahead, the nation will end up purchasing less infrastructure for each dollar spent,” he said.