WASHINGTON - Import prices jumped 1.3% in November, as both fuel and non-fuel imports rose, while export prices surged 1.5%, the Labor Department reported Friday morning.
Fuel import prices rose 3.7% -- after rising at a revised 3.8% rate the previous month -- driven by a 4.1% rise in petroleum prices which more than offset a 3.8% drop in natural gas prices, Labor said.
Import prices excluding fuel increased 0.8% and prices excluding petroleum increased 0.7%.
Economists expected overall import prices would rise 0.8%, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
The headline 1.3% November gain came after Labor upwardly revised October import prices to a 1.0% rise from an originally reported 0.9% increase. The November rise was the largest since a 1.5% increase in November 2009.
For the year ending in November, import prices increased 3.7%, down slightly from a 3.8% gain for the year ending in October.
Overall export prices increased 1.5% in November, the fourth consecutive monthly increase and the largest rise in the category since a gain of the same amount in July 2008. Prices for both agricultural and nonagricultural exports continued to move higher, Labor said.
