Falling Fuel Prices Lead To Another Steep Drop In U.S. Import Prices

(RTTNews) - Import prices in the U.S. showed another substantial decrease in the month of December, the Labor Department revealed in a report on Wednesday, with fuel prices leading the way lower once again.

The Labor Department said its import price index plummeted by 2.5 percent in December after tumbling by a revised 1.8 percent in November. Economists had expected import prices to slump by 2.7 percent.

Prices for fuel imports showed another significant decrease, plunging by 15.1 percent in December after slumping by 8.7 percent in the previous month.

The drop in fuel prices was led by a 16.6 percent decline in petroleum prices, which more than offset a 15.3 percent increase in natural gas prices.

Excluding fuel prices, the report said import prices edged down by just 0.1 percent in December compared to a 0.3 percent drop in November.

The Labor Department said the modest drop reflected lower prices for consumer goods, non-fuel industrial supplies and materials, and capital goods.

Additionally, the report said export prices fell by 1.2 percent in December following a 0.8 percent drop in November. Export prices had been expected to fall by 0.5 percent.

Prices for agricultural exports fell by 0.7 percent in December after rising 0.4 percent in the previous month, with prices for meat and soybeans leading the way lower.

The Labor Department said prices for non-agricultural exports also dropped by 1.2 percent following a 1.0 percent decrease in November.

Falling prices for non-agricultural industrial supplies and materials and consumer goods contributed to the continued decrease.

Compared to the same month a year ago, import prices were down by 5.5 percent in December, while export prices were down by 3.2 percent year-over-year.

Over the next two days, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched reports on producer and consumer price inflation.