The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) reports that while the nation’s wholesale prices increased for the first time in five months, construction materials prices were unchanged in September, according to the Oct. 18 Producer Price Index (PPI) report by the Department of Labor.

Construction materials prices decreased 0.2 percent for the quarter, but are 8.1 percent higher than one year ago, ABC reports.

“The expectation is that the demand for commodities will not be quite as brisk from this point forward,” notes ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Despite today’s [Oct. 18] report, there is no reason to believe that construction materials prices will generally decline during the months ahead, even if the global economy continues to soften.”

Basu says that there is an expectation that the demand for commodities “will not be quite as brisk from this point forward so that it is likely that materials prices are no longer on the rise.”