November 2018 U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — 2018-12-13

U.S. import prices declined 1.6 percent in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, following a 0.5-percent rise the previous month. The November drop was primarily led by lower fuel prices. The price index for U.S. exports fell 0.9 percent in November, after advancing 0.5 percent in October. Prices for U.S. imports decreased 1.6 percent in November, the largest monthly decline since a 1.8-percent drop in August 2015. Despite the November drop, import prices increased 0.7 percent over the past 12 months, the smallest over-the-year advance since the index increased 0.2 percent from November 2015 to November 2016. (See table 1.) Fuel Imports: Import fuel prices decreased 11.0 percent in November following a 3.2-percent rise the previous month. The November drop was the largest 1-month decline since the index fell 15.6 percent in January 2016.