WASHINGTON — U.S. import prices dropped 1.0% in May after being revised to an unchanged level in April, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.
The April figure was originally reported as a 0.5% decrease.
The May decline, driven by a 4.2% decline in fuel import prices, was just off the 1.1% median decrease projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters. It was the first monthly decline since a 0.4% drop in October 2011, and the largest since a 1.2% dive in June 2010.
The lower fuel import prices came on the heels of a revised 0.7% drop in April, originally reported as a 2.1% slide. The decrease in May import fuel prices was the largest since a 5.1% drop in May 2010.
Non-fuel import prices decreased for the first time since November, falling 0.1% after a revised 0.2% gain in April.
Year over year, import prices were down 0.3% for May following a revised yearly gain of 0.9 % in April.
Export prices fell 0.4% in May after rising 0.4% the previous month.
