March 2017 U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — 2017-04-12

U.S. import prices declined 0.2 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, following increases in each of the 3 previous months. The March downturn was driven by lower fuel import prices which more than offset rising nonfuel prices. In contrast, the price index for U.S. exports increased 0.2 percent in March, after advancing 0.3 percent in February. All Imports: Import prices fell 0.2 percent in March, after increasing 1.4 percent over the previous 3 months. Prior to the March downturn, import prices trended up over most of the past 12 months, advancing 4.2 percent between March 2016 and March 2017. In contrast, import prices fell 6.1 percent for the previous 12-month period. Fuel Imports: The price index for import fuel declined 3.8 percent in March, the largest 1-month drop since the index fell 6.8 percent in February 2016.