January 2020 U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — 2020-02-14

U.S. import prices were unchanged in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, following 0.2-percent advances the 2 previous months. In January, falling fuel prices offset increasing prices for nonfuel imports. Prices for U.S. exports advanced 0.7 percent in January, after declining 0.2 percent the previous month. Import prices were unchanged in January, after rising in December and November. Prices for U.S. imports rose 0.3 percent from January 2019 to January 2020. The price index for overall imports advanced on a 12- month basis for the second consecutive month, after not recording an over-the-year increase since the index rose 0.1 percent for the year ended March 2019. (See table 1.) Fuel Imports: Prices for import fuel declined 2.2 percent in January, led by lower prices for both petroleum and natural gas. The January decrease was the largest monthly drop since the index fell 4.2 percent in August.