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U.S. import prices decline for second consecutive month, November 2013

December 16, 2013

In November, U.S. import prices declined 0.6 percent for the second consecutive month. The decrease in each of the past 2 months was led by falling fuel prices. Export prices rose 0.1 percent following a 0.6‑percent decline in October. The increase was driven by higher nonagricultural prices that more than offset a decline in agricultural prices.
1-month percent change in import and export price indexes, selected categories, November 2012–November 2013
IndexNov 2012Dec 2012Jan 2013Feb 2013Mar 2013Apr 2013May 2013Jun 2013Jul 2013Aug 2013Sep 2013Oct 2013Nov 2013

All imports

-0.7-0.60.50.9-0.1-0.7-0.6-0.40.10.40.3-0.6-0.6

Fuel

-2.2-2.21.93.60.0-2.4-1.7-0.71.72.61.0-2.9-3.1

Nonfuel

-0.2-0.10.20.1-0.1-0.2-0.4-0.3-0.4-0.20.10.10.0

All exports

-0.6-0.10.40.7-0.5-0.6-0.5-0.1-0.2-0.50.4-0.60.1

Agricultural

0.50.1-1.22.0-1.8-2.11.10.8-0.3-4.20.6-1.4-0.2

Nonagricultural

-0.7-0.20.50.6-0.3-0.5-0.7-0.2-0.20.00.3-0.60.1

Import fuel prices declined 3.1 percent in November after declining 2.9 percent in October. The decline was the largest downturn since an 8.5‑percent drop in June 2012. A 3.5‑percent decrease in petroleum prices more than offset a 9.4‑percent advance in natural gas prices. The price index for nonfuel imports was unchanged after rising 0.1 percent in both October and September.

In November, the price index for agricultural exports decreased 0.2 percent following a 1.4‑percent decline the previous month. A 2.9‑percent drop in soybean prices and a 3.4-percent fall in wheat prices were the largest contributors to the decline. Nonagricultural export prices advanced 0.1 percent in November after a 0.6‑percent decline in October. Higher prices for capital goods and consumer goods drove the monthly increase.

These data are from the BLS International Price program. Import and export price data are subject to revision. To learn more, see "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — November 2013" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL‑13‑2351.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, U.S. import prices decline for second consecutive month, November 2013 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2013/ted_20131216.htm (visited October 06, 2024).

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