Falling import prices are keeping overall U.S. inflation in check, though there are signs the pressure from overseas may be easing.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Friday that import prices decreased 0.3% in February from the prior month after falling a revised 1% in January. It was their eighth consecutive monthly decline, and economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected import prices to fall 0.7% from January.
Import prices were down 6.1% in February from a year earlier, the 19th-straight annual decline.
The latest monthly decline partly reflected falling prices for imported fuels. The price of imported petroleum fell 4% from January and slumped 38.5% from February 2015.
Prices for non-petroleum imports decreased 0.1% in February from the prior month and down 2.9% on the year.
But excluding both fuels and food, import prices ticked up 0.1% last month from January, their first improvement since May 2014, having fallen 2.5% from February 2015.
Related Stories
