Reuters
Oil Drags Down September Import Prices
Thursday October 9, 8:29 am ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The price of goods imported to the United States fell more sharply than expected last month, dragged down by a big drop in the price of imported oil, a government report showed on Thursday.
U.S. import prices fell 0.5 percent in September, the Labor Department said, as petroleum prices slid 5.2 percent, their first drop in fourth months.
Economists on Wall Street had expected a 0.2 percent drop in overall import prices.
Stripping out petroleum prices, which reflected a 5.8 percent decrease in the cost of crude oil, import prices would have risen 0.2 percent, the department said.
The rise in non-petroleum import prices reflected a 0.6 percent gain in food costs and a 1.4 percent increase in the price of non-petroleum industrial supplies, which more than offset a 0.3 percent decrease in the cost of imported capital goods and a 0.1 percent slide in car prices.
Economists say a drop in the value of the U.S. dollar, which has accelerated in recent weeks, should boost to the cost of imports. Over the last year, non-petroleum imports prices have risen 0.9 percent. That compares to a 0.9 percent drop in the corresponding period a year ago.
The department also said export prices rose 0.4 percent last month, but were down 0.1 percent when a big increase in agricultural export prices is excluded.
