Prices of flat glass and flat glass manufacturing increased in January, according to USGNN.com™ analysis of Producer Price Index (PPI) data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The monthly PPI for flat glass in the commodity category was 132.8, representing a 0.2-percent price increase from December 2016 to January 2017 and a 2.2-percent jump from a year ago. According to the BLS, the commodity classification “organizes products and services by similarity or material composition, regardless of the industry classification of the producing establishment.”

The index for flat glass manufacturing in the industry classification stands at 104.0, indicating a 1-percent price bump for the month and a 3.2-percent increase from January 2016. The BLS notes that the industry classification measures “changes in prices received for the industry’s output sold outside the industry (that is, it’s net output).”

Prices for fabricated structural metal products, which includes glazing systems, increased 0.3 percent over the month and 2.3 percent over the year. That index, in the commodity and service grouping, is 217.1.

Recent analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America also shows the overall cost of materials used in construction, as well as the cost of labor, rose significantly faster than the price of completed buildings. From January 2016 to January 2017, there was a 3.8 percent rise in the producer price index for goods used in construction.

Another government report showed that average hourly earnings for all workers in construction climbed 3.2 percent over the same period. Meanwhile, the price index for new nonresidential buildings—what contractors charge—increased just 1.4 percent.