Import Prices Slip 0.4%; Export Prices Rise 0.5%

WASHINGTON — Import prices fell 0.4% in August, while export prices rose 0.5%, the Labor Department reported Tuesday, following an unrevised 0.3% increase in import prices in July.

Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected a 0.8% decline.

The August import price index was pulled down by a 2.1% fall in the price of petroleum imports. Natural gas prices, however, rose 3.3%. Prices excluding petroleum were up 0.3%.

Food prices were down 0.8%.

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