MW: U.S. import prices fall for first time in four months on lower fuel costs
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The price of U.S. imports fell in March for the first time in four months owing to lower costs for oil, but prices of many other goods continued to rise.
The import price index dropped 0.2% in March, the government reported Wednesday. It’s the first decline since November.
The cost of fuel retreated 3.8% in March, the biggest drop in more than a year. Lower prices for one of the nation’s biggest imports kept overall import prices in check.
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Yet if fuel is set aside, import prices climbed 0.2% last month. Most of the increase was in industrial supplies. The cost of imported food and consumer goods such as electronic fell.
Over the past year, import prices have risen 4.2%. The cost of imports excluding energy have climbed a much smaller 1% in the same span.
The price of goods exported by the U.S. to other nations, meanwhile, rose 0.2% in March. Over the past year, export prices have increased 3.6%.
