WASHINGTON: The cost of goods imported into the U.S. fell in November for the first time in three months, largely due to falling fuel prices. The import price index fell 0.3% in November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday. It was the biggest drop since February, when oil prices also fell. Fuel imports sank 3.9% in November, the government said. Excluding fuel, import prices slipped 0.1%. Still, import prices are no longer falling. That could add some upward pressure on U.S. inflation in the near future.
Import prices were effectively flat in the 12 months from November 2015 to November 2016. A year earlier, import prices were declining at a double-digit rate in percentage terms, the offshoot of a big drop in petroleum costs. U.S. export prices, meanwhile, fell 0.1% in November.
