WASHINGTON – Import prices rose 2.2% in April, as prices in the first quarter rose 6.7%, their largest gain since 2008, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.
The April increase was mostly due to higher petroleum prices. Imported petroleum was up 7.2%, while non-petroleum import prices rose just 0.6%.
The April import price increase was higher than the 1.8% median forecast of economists polled by Thomson Reuters., Non-petroleum imports were up 4.3% over the last 12 months, their biggest 12-month advance since the 4.9% rise in the year ending October 2008.
U.S. export prices were up 1.1% in April, with agricultural export prices up 35.3% over the last 12 months.
Both the petroleum import prices and agricultural export prices were part of the worldwide boom in commodity prices.
