Import prices rose 11.5 percent for the year ended in January. The price index for overall exports rose 3.4 percent over the past 12 months. This is according to new data released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The increase in import prices is the largest 12-month gain for the index since a 13.1-percent jump for the September 2007-08 period. Approximately three-quarters of the increase was attributable to higher fuel prices. The price index for petroleum jumped 95.5 percent over the past year, driving overall fuel prices up 78.6 percent for the same period. Nonfuel import prices increased 1.3 percent over the past year.
The 12-month increase in export prices is the largest year-over-year increase since a 4.0 percent advance for the year ended October 2008. The price index for agricultural exports increased 4.5 percent over the past year. The price index for nonagricultural export prices increased 3.3 percent for the year ended in January.
This data is 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 — January 2010" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-10-0200.
