WASHINGTON — Import prices increased 0.2% in July, the first increase in three months, as fuel imports increased, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Export prices declined 0.2% in July.
Import prices excluding fuel fell 0.3% in July and slid 0.5% in June. This was the first back-to-back decline in non-fuel import prices since February and March 2009. The June decline was the first in 11 months. Import prices excluding petroleum declined 0.2% in July.
For the three months ending in July, import prices dropped 2.0%, the largest decline for a quarter since the three months ending February 2009.
Economists expected import prices to increase 0.4%, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Prices for imported non-fuel industrial supplies fell 1.2% in July. Capital goods import prices edged down 0.1%. Imported autos increased 0.4%, the largest increase since April 2008.
Fuel import prices increased 2.1% and imported petroleum prices gained 2.0%.
For the year ending in July, import prices increased 4.9% following a 4.2% increase in June.
