U.S. Import And Export Price Indexes — 1997-11-19

Led by increasing petroleum prices, the U.S. Import Price Index rose 0.1 percent in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported. The increase occurred despite a continued decline in prices for nonpetroleum imports. The Export Price Index decreased 0.3 percent in October after a decline of 0.4 in September. Percent changes in import and export price indexes by End Use category - not seasonally adjusted - IMPORTS EXPORTS Month All Petroleum Non- All Agri- Nonagri- Imports Imports Petroleum Exports cultural cultural Imports Exports 1996 October 0.5 7.1 -0.3 -0.2 -2.6 0.0 November -0.2 -0.8 -0.1 -0.4 -2.3 0.0 December 0.3 2.0 0.1 0.0 -0.9 0.1 Import prices rose 0.1 percent last month, but were down 3.8 percent over the year ended in October. A 5.0 percent increase in imported petroleum prices more than offset a continued decline in nonpetroleum imports, down 0.3 percent in October.