September 2011 U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — 2011-10-14

U.S. import prices rose 0.3 percent in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the past five months, import prices have shown little net change. Export prices increased 0.4 percent in September after advancing 0.5 percent the previous month. All Imports: Import prices advanced 0.3 percent in September after falling 0.2 percent the previous month. Overall, import prices have not changed by more than 0.6 percent in any month since rising 2.6 percent in April. Higher prices for both fuel and nonfuel imports contributed to the September advance. The price index for overall imports increased 13.4 percent over the past 12 months, led by a sharp rise in fuel prices. A 5.5 percent advance in nonfuel prices also contributed to the overall increase. Fuel Imports: Fuel prices ticked up 0.1 percent in September, but declined in three of the past five months, falling 4.1 percent over that period.