August 2022 U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — 2022-09-15

Prices for U.S. imports declined 1.0 percent in August following a 1.5-percent decrease in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Lower fuel and nonfuel prices in August contributed to the decline in U.S. import prices. U.S. export prices fell 1.6 percent in August, after declining 3.7 percent the previous month. The price index for U.S. imports declined 1.0 percent in August and 1.5 percent in July, the first time import prices have decreased in consecutive months since February, March, and April 2020. Prices for U.S. imports advanced 7.8 percent for the year ended in August, the smallest 12-month increase since the index rose 7.1 percent from March 2020 to March 2021. (See table 1.) Fuel Imports: Import fuel prices decreased 6.8 percent in August, after a 7.5-percent decline the previous month. The declines in August and July were the first consecutive 1-month drops since the index decreased in October and September 2020.