Dive summary:

• The Producer Price Index kept by the U.S. Department of Labor shows construction materials in July were even with June and up 2% from a year ago when considered altogether, though breaking out the numbers shows nonresidential materials were down 0.1% month-to-month and were up less – 1.8% – for the year.
• The overall number masks some significant increases that affect some contractors more than others, such as crude energy being up 21.6% from July 2012 and steel mill products being up 6.1% in that time.
• Two categories that did go down from June to July were softwood lumber – it's third monthly decline in a row – and nonferrous wire and cable products, which were down 1.1% from June and are the only product that is down over the 12 months.

From the release:

"Looking beyond the headline number reveals a different story. In July, many nonresidential materials prices expanded, some of them significantly." ...