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U.S. import prices continued to advance in July, ticking up 0.1 percent over the month. Despite increases in recent months, import prices remain down on an over-the-year basis, falling 3.7 percent over the 12 months ending July 2016. Import prices have not recorded a 12-month increase since July 2014.
Category | 12-month percent change, July 2015 to July 2016 | 1-month percent change, June 2016 to July 2016 | Relative importance |
---|---|---|---|
Foods, feeds, & beverages |
1.4 | 3.3 | 6.081 |
Transportation equipment excluding motor vehicles |
0.6 | -0.3 | 2.705 |
Unfinished metals related to durable goods |
0.2 | 0.0 | 3.351 |
Consumer goods, excluding automotives, nondurables, manufactured |
-0.1 | 0.0 | 13.055 |
Selected building materials |
-0.2 | 0.0 | 1.302 |
Consumer goods, excluding automotives, durables, manufactured |
-0.3 | 0 | 12.788 |
Consumer goods, excluding automotives, nonmanufactured consumer goods |
-0.3 | -0.6 | 1.494 |
Automotive vehicles, parts & engines |
-0.8 | -0.3 | 16.131 |
Nonmetals related to durable goods |
-1.3 | -0.6 | 1.722 |
Electric generating equipment |
-1.8 | -0.1 | 3.456 |
Nonelectrical machinery |
-2 | -0.1 | 22.333 |
Paper & paper base stocks |
-2.7 | -0.6 | 0.576 |
Finished metals related to durable goods |
-3.7 | 0.7 | 1.683 |
Materials associated with nondurable supplies & materials |
-6.4 | 0.4 | 4.771 |
Fuels & lubricants |
-22.3 | -2.5 | 8.551 |
Fuel and lubricant prices, which have a relative weight of 8.6 percent (the percentage of total imports they represent), decreased 2.5 percent in July, the first monthly decline since February 2016. Prices for import fuel decreased 22.3 percent for the year ending July 2016. Declines in both petroleum and natural gas prices contributed to the overall fall in fuel prices.
The price index for automotive vehicles, parts and engines, which has a relative weight of 16.1 percent, fell 0.3 percent over the month and 0.8 percent over the year.
Prices for foods, feeds, and beverages, which have a relative weight of 6.1 percent, increased 3.3 percent over the month in July, but are up 1.4 percent over the year.
These data are from the International Price program and are subject to revision. For more information, see "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — July 2016" (HTML) (PDF). See charts on import and export prices: Charts related to the latest "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes" news release.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Fuel and lubricants import prices down 22.3 percent over the year ended in July at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/fuel-and-lubricants-import-prices-down-22-point-3-percent-over-the-year-ended-in-july.htm (visited October 31, 2024).