Building project costs soar up

Prices in the construction sector rose by nearly four per cent year on year in 2010, Statistik Austria has announced.The agency said today (Thurs) that costs climbed by 3.9 per cent. It explained that roadwork activities were 5.5 per cent more expensive in 2010 than in the previous year, adding that bridge construction rates jumped by 2.9 per cent.Private clients in Austria are currently also confronted with soaring prices.The Austrian inflation rate would have been at a level of 1.6 per cent instead of the registered 2.3 per cent in December 2010 compared to the same month of the year before had there not been a strong surge in prices for mineral oil products like car fuel, Statistik Austria explained recently. The overall year on year price jump for mineral oil products like heating oil and car petrol was found to be 16 per cent in December.Increasing fruit and vegetable prices once more kept the overall foodstuff group price level high in December 2010. After becoming seven per cent more expensive year on year in November, vegetables cost seven per cent more the next month compared to the same month of 2009, while fruit prices climbed by nine per cent from December 2009 to December 2010 after a price jump of three per cent from November 2009 to the same month of last year.