Import prices increased in March for the first time since July, advancing 0.5 percent after edging down 0.1 percent in February.
The March advance was led by a 10.5-percent rise in petroleum prices. The price index for petroleum increased for the second consecutive month after falling 69.2 percent from July through January.
In contrast, nonpetroleum prices decreased for the eighth consecutive month, falling 0.7 percent in March. For the year ended in March, petroleum prices fell 52.0 percent and prices for nonpetroleum imports declined 3.7 percent.
These data is from the BLS International Price program. Import price data is subject to revision. Learn more in "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes – March 2009," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 09-0363.
