Import prices increase in September 2009

October 15, 2009

The price index for all imports increased 0.1 percent in September, led by a 0.6-percent increase in nonfuel import prices.

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The September rise followed a 1.6-percent increase in August and continues results in which the price index for overall imports has only declined once since January. Despite the recent upward trend, import prices fell 12.0 percent for the year ended in September because of the sharp drop in the index at the end of 2008.

The price index for fuel imports decreased 1.8 percent in September, following a 7.1-percent increase in August. The decrease was driven by a 2.1-percent decline in crude prices as well as a 16.5-percent drop in natural gas prices.

In contrast to fuel imports, nonfuel import prices increased 0.6 percent in September, following a 0.3-percent increase in August, representing the largest one-month gain since a similar 0.6-percent advance in July 2008. Contributing to the advance were higher prices for nonfuel industrial supplies and materials, finished goods and foods.

These data are from the BLS International Price program. Import and export price data are subject to revision. For more information, see "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — September 2009" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-09-1238.