U.S. Import And Export Price Indexes — 2005-04-15

The U.S. Import Price Index rose 1.8 percent in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The increase was the largest monthly advance since January 2003 and was again driven by higher petroleum prices. U.S. export prices increased 0.7 percent in March after recording no change the previous month. Percent changes in import and export price indexes by End Use category -not seasonally adjusted- Month Non- Agri- Nonagri- All Petroleum petroleum All cultural cultural Imports Imports Imports Exports Exports Exports Import prices rose 1.8 percent in March, following increases of 0.8 percent and 0.6 percent the two previous months. For March, higher petroleum prices again led the overall increase in import prices, rising 10.6 percent for the month. The price index for petroleum increased 4.6 percent and 2.3 percent in February and January, respectively, and rose 36.1 percent over the past 12 months.