January 2012 U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — 2012-02-14

U.S. import prices rose 0.3 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, after ticking down 0.1 percent in December. Higher prices for both fuel and nonfuel imports contributed to the January increase. Prices for U.S. exports also advanced in January, rising 0.2 percent following a 0.5 percent decline the previous month. All Imports: Overall import prices increased for the second time in three months in January, rising 0.3 percent following a 0.1 percent downturn in December and a 0.7 percent advance in November. Prior to the past three months, import prices had trended mostly down between June and October. However, the price index for overall imports rose 7.1 percent over the past 12 months. In January, both a 1.0 percent increase in fuel prices and a 0.1 percent uptick in nonfuel prices contributed to the monthly rise.