Washington, DC, October 13, 2006--Led by a drop in the cost of imported oil, the prices of goods imported into the U.S. fell 2.1% in September, the first drop since March and the biggest since April 2003, the Labor Department said Friday.
Imported-oil prices fell 10.3%, the largest decline since December 2004. Prices of other imports inched up 0.1%.
Export prices also fell in September, dropping 0.5%, the first decline since last November. Excluding agricultural goods, export prices also fell 0.5%.
Import prices are up 2.0% in the past 12 months. This is the smallest 12-month change since March 2003. It's down sharply from the August year-over-year change of 6.3%.
The drop in import prices was greater than expected. Economists were expecting import prices to fall 1.3%.
August import prices rose 0.8%, unrevised from the previous estimate.
Prices of Chinese imports fell 0.2% in September. Prices of imports from most other countries and regions also declined. Prices of goods imported from Europe fell 0.1% Prices of Canadian imports fell 2.0%, the largest decline since February, while prices of imports from Japan fell 0.1% for the third straight month.
The rise in non-oil import prices in September was largely due to a 0.4% gain in nonpetroleum industrial supplies and materials.
Imported capital goods prices were flat during the month. Imported auto prices rose 0.1%, while prices of imported consumer goods also rose 0.1%.
Exported agricultural prices fell 0.7% in September, the first decline since April.
Prices of exported industrial supplies fell 1.8%, the first decrease since last November. Prices of exported capital goods were flat while prices of exported consumer goods rose 0.1%.
