May 2008 U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — 2008-06-12

The U.S. Import Price Index rose 2.3 percent in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today, following advances of 2.4 percent in April and 3.0 percent in March. Rising prices for both petroleum and nonpetroleum imports factored into the increases. The price index for overall exports advanced 0.3 percent in May after rising 0.5 percent the previous month. Percent changes in import and export price indexes by End Use category - not seasonally adjusted - May import prices rose 2.3 percent and were up 7.9 percent between February and May, the largest three-month jump for the index since October 1990. Import prices advanced 17.8 percent over the past year, which was the largest year-over-year rise since the index was first published in September 1982.