With fuel prices showing another substantial decrease, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that U.S. import prices fell more than expected in the month of August.
The Labor Department said import prices tumbled by 1.8 percent in August following an unrevised 0.9 percent decrease in July. Economists had expected import prices to drop by 1.6 percent.
The bigger than expected decrease in import prices was primarily driven by lower fuel prices, which plummeted by 13.3 percent in August after plunging by 5.7 percent in July.
The decline in fuel prices, the biggest one-month drop since January, was led by a 14.2 percent decrease in petroleum prices.
Excluding the drop in fuel prices, import prices still fell by 0.4 percent in August after dipping by 0.3 percent in the previous month.
The continued decrease in non-fuel import prices came as lower prices for non-fuel industrial supplies and materials as well as finished goods more than offset higher foods, feeds, and beverages prices.
Additionally, the report also showed a steep drop in export prices, which slumped by 1.4 percent in August after falling by a revised 0.4 percent in July.
Export prices had been expected to edge down by about 0.4 percent compared to the 0.2 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.
Prices for agricultural exports tumbled by 2.6 percent in August following a 1.1 percent jump in July, while prices for non-agricultural export prices fell by 1.3 percent after slipping by 0.5 percent.
Compared to the same month a year ago, import prices were down by 11.4 percent in August, while export prices were down by 7.0 percent.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com