WASHINGTON - U.S. Import prices fell in October for the third time in five months, decreasing 0.6%, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The decline was the largest since June when import prices were down by the same percentage.
The October decrease was way off the 0.1% median gain projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters.
Import prices for September were revised to unchanged.
The decrease in import prices in October reflected a huge decrease of 10.9% in prices for imports of natural gas. Prices for fuel imports were down 1.3% and prices for petroleum imports were down 1.0%. The only gains were for imports of automotive vehicles and consumer goods excluding cars.
Year-over-year, import prices for October were up 11.0%, with a year over year gain of 12.9% increase for September.
Export prices fell 2.1% in October, after rising a revised 0.4% in September. The October decline was led by prices for exports of food, feed and beverages, which were down 6.9%, and agricultural exports, which declined 6.5%.
