Import/Export Prices Increase in August
WASHINGTON (
) -- Import prices jumped by 2% in August, bouncing back from a 0.7% price fall the month before.
According to a report from the Labor Department, the price index that tracks imports increased for the fifth time in the last six months. But over the past year, import prices have fallen off by 15%.
Both the recent price increases and fall from the year-ago are largely the product of fluctuating fuel-import prices, which rose 9.8% in August but have fallen dramatically since record highs at the end of last summer.
Since January, though, import prices have bumped higher by 7.6%.
After discounting for the recent fuel uptick, import prices moved higher by 0.4% in August boosted by larger industrial prices. That marks the largest increase since July 2008, but prices, excluding fuel, are still suppressed by 5.1% over the past year.
Export prices also grew by 0.7% in August after retreating by 0.3% in July. Still, prices have dropped by 6.1% since last year.
-- Written by Sung Moss in New York
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