July 2008 U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — 2008-08-13

The U.S. Import Price Index increased 1.7 percent in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today, after a 2.9 percent rise in June. Both petroleum and nonpetroleum prices contributed to the advance, increasing 4.0 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. Export prices rose 1.4 percent in July following a 1.0 percent advance the previous month. Percent changes in import and export price indexes by End Use category - not seasonally adjusted - Import prices increased 1.7 percent in July after rising between 2.8 and 3.1 percent in each of the previous four months. Prices for overall imports jumped 21.6 percent for the year ended in July, the largest 12-month increase for the index since first publication in September 1982.