The National Cost of Construction, calculated by the IBGE in partnership with CAIXA (Caixa Econômica Federal), began the year of 2005 with a change of 0.71%, recoiling 0.37 percentage point in relation to the index of December 2004 (1.08%). In the comparison with January 2004 (0.49%), the current result recorded a hike of 0.22 percentage point. In the last twelve months the accumulated index remained in 11.20%.

The national cost per square meter passed from R$ 507.70 to R$ 511.33, being R$ 300.51 relative to materials and R$ 210.82 to labor.

Materials passed from 1.30% in December to 0.75% in January (recoil of 0.55 percentage point). In twelve months the hike was of 13.95%.

Labor recorded an increase of 0.66%, which means 0.10 percentage point below the index of December (0.76%). In the last twelve months the index was 7.50%.

North Region recorded the highest monthly index

The North region presented the highest regional index in January (1.83%), a result that was pressured by wage readjustments in some states. The Northeast, due to the same reason, remained in second place, with a hike of 0.96%. The Central West (0.72%) presented a change similar to the national average (0.71%) while the South (0.47%) and the Southeast (0.45%) presented results below the national average.

The Northeast region recorded the highest accumulated index in twelve months (12.93%) and the North, the lowest index (9.94%). The other indexes in the same period are the following: 10.86% (Central West); 10.78% (Southeast) and 10.50% (South).

The regional costs were the following: R$ 547.76 (Southeast); R$ 515.45 (South); R$ 491.10 (Central West); R$ 489.60 (North) and R$ 468.18 (Northeast).

Among the states, Maranhão and Paraíba had the highest increases

Due to wage readjustments in the professional categories of construction, the state of Maranhão recorded the highest monthly index (3.36%), followed by Paraíba (3.27%), Amapá (3.17%), Amazonas (3.13%) and Piauí (2.13%). The lowest change, from December to January, remained with Pernambuco (0.17%), Sergipe and Bahia, both with a hike of 0.23%.

The state of Paraíba presented the highest accumulated index in twelve months (16.98%), followed by Pernambuco (14.53%) and Rio Grande do Norte (14.30%).

JANUARY/05

SOURCE: IBGE. Diretoria de Pesquisas. Coordenação de Índices de Preços.

NOTE:

these results are calculated monthly by the IBGE in partnership with CAIXA – Caixa Econômica Federal.