Prices for goods imported into the United States recorded their biggest drop in seven months in March as petroleum costs declined, but experts said the underlying trend pointed to a moderate rise in imported inflation as the dollar's rally fades.
The U.S. Labor Department said on Wednesday import prices fell 0.2% last month, the largest drop since August, after a 0.4% increase in February, lowering the year-on-year increase in import prices to 4.2% from 4.8% in February.
Economists had forecast the 0.2% decline last month for import prics.
Still, domestic inflation down south is rising. Most consumer inflation measures have pushed above the Federal Reserve's 2% target. A report on Thursday is expected to show producer prices unchanged in March, but rising 2.4% on a year-on-year basis