The U.S. import price index increased 1.6% in the month of April, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics yesterday.
Thomson Reuters had predicted a 0.7% increase for the imports index. The 1.6% rise in the index followed a 0.2% increase in import prices in March. Year-over-year, import prices fell 16.4%, the largest drop on record.
Excluding petroleum, the import price index fell 0.4% in the month, after a 0.9% slip in March. Excluding fuels, imports declined 0.1%.
Petroleum import prices jumped 15.4% in April after a 7.9% rise in March. In the past year, petroleum import prices slid 49.8%, compared to a 16.3% slide in the overall import price index and a 5.6% drop in non-petroleum imports.
Meanwhile, export prices jumped 0.5%, after a 0.7% decrease in March.
