Institutional furniture prices rose 5.1% in the year to August 2026 while aluminum rose 27.3%

The Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price index for institutional furniture manufacturing stood at 236.922 in August 2026, 5.1% above August 2025. The index tracks the prices U.S. makers receive for furniture such as restaurant tables and chairs, cafeteria benches, stadium seating and park benches. It was 0.01% below July's 236.947, the highest reading since the index began in December 2003. The August figure was released on September 10 and is preliminary.

The materials that go into commercial outdoor furniture rose faster over the same twelve months. The producer price index for aluminum mill shapes rose 27.3% and the index for steel mill products rose 23.4%. Lumber rose 7.6%, and thermoplastic resins and plastics materials rose 7.3%.

The furniture index set a record of 236.947 in July 2026

The change on the year has stayed between 5.1% and 8.2% in every month from June 2025 through August 2026. The largest of those gains, 8.2% in October 2025, was the biggest since April 2023.

Restaurant and bar furniture rose 4.3% over the year

The Census Bureau defines the industry behind the index, institutional furniture manufacturing (NAICS 337127), as makers of furniture such as library, school, theater and church furniture, along with general-purpose hospital, laboratory and dental tables, stools and benches. The products listed under the industry include restaurant furniture, cafeteria tables and benches, stadium and bleacher seating, and park-type benches other than concrete or stone. Office furniture is classified in a separate industry.

BLS publishes indexes for groups of products inside the industry, and they moved at different rates over the year to August 2026.

Public furniture for bars, bowling centers, cafeterias and restaurants rose 4.3% to 213.228. This index changes in steps. It held at 204.342 from July through September 2025, then rose in October 2025 and in January, April, June and August 2026.

Public building and related furniture, which excludes bar, bowling, cafeteria, restaurant and school furniture, rose 2.2% to 361.933. Other institutional furniture rose 7.5% to 181.096.

Aluminum rose 27.3% and steel 23.4% over the year

Aluminum rose the most of the four materials. Its index reached 394.292 in June 2026, the highest reading in a series that begins in 1947. It fell 1.6% in July and 4.4% in August, to 370.902. That left it 5.9% below June and 27.3% above August 2025.

Steel mill products rose in each of the nine months from December 2025 through August 2026, including 1.7% in August, to 381.162. That is 23.4% above a year earlier and 15.2% below the series high of 449.711 in December 2021.

Lumber rose 7.6% over the year to 286.633. Thermoplastic resins and plastics materials rose 7.3% to 283.105, though that index has fallen 9.7% since May 2026.

Over two years the gap is wider. From August 2024 to August 2026, aluminum mill shapes rose 56.4% and steel mill products 38.5%. Institutional furniture rose 11.7% over the same period, and the restaurant furniture group 8.6%. Lumber rose 13.9% and resins 3.5%.

The two kinds of index measure different prices. The BLS guide to price adjustment says producer price indexes measure the average change in prices that domestic producers receive for their output. It adds that a PPI does not directly measure the cost of producing a good, though costs factor into the selling price. The material indexes are prices that mills and other suppliers receive, and the furniture index is the price that furniture makers receive.

Lodging construction spending fell 10.0% over the year

Two Census Bureau series give context on demand from the properties this site covers. Construction spending on lodging was $24.9 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) in August 2026, 10.0% below August 2025. The August figure is the first estimate, released October 1, and the same release revised the July estimate.

Sales at food services and drinking places were $91.4 billion in August 2026, seasonally adjusted, 5.4% above a year earlier. That figure is an advance estimate, which Census replaces with revised estimates from its larger monthly survey.

Caveats

Producer price data are revised. The BLS guide says data are subject to monthly revisions for up to four months after first publication, so the values for May through August 2026 can still change. The next release, with September data, is scheduled for October 15, 2026.

These are national producer prices. They do not measure what a dealer charges or what a delivered order costs.

The institutional furniture index covers indoor and outdoor products alike, from theater seating to park benches. The BLS index for metal outdoor and casual furniture, including beach, lawn, garden and porch furniture, was discontinued after December 2017.

The indexes are not seasonally adjusted. This article compares August with August to keep the same month on both sides.

The comparison between material and furniture indexes in this article compares price changes. It does not measure how much aluminum, steel, lumber or resin goes into a piece of furniture.