With prices for fuel imports showing a notable decrease, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a pullback by import prices in the month of March.
The Labor Department said import prices fell by 0.5 percent in March following a revised 0.6 percent increase in February. The decrease in prices matched economist estimates.
The drop in import prices was largely due to falling fuel import prices, which tumbled by 1.9 percent in March after surging up by 2.8 percent in February and 1.8 percent in January.
Excluding the drop in fuel prices, import prices edged down by a more modest 0.2 percent in March compared to a 0.1 percent increase in the previous month.
The decrease in non-fuel import prices reflected lower prices for non-fuel industrial supplies and materials, consumer goods, automotive vehicles, and capital goods.
The report also showed that export prices dropped by 0.4 percent in March after rising by a revised 0.7 percent in the previous month. Economists had expected export prices to edge up by 0.1 percent.
Prices for agricultural exports plunged by 1.8 percent in March after jumping by 2.1 percent in February. The drop reflected lower fruit and wheat prices.
The Labor Department said prices for non-agricultural exports dipped by 0.2 percent in March after rising by 0.6 percent in the previous month.
The report also said import prices for March were down by 2.7 percent compared to the same month a year ago, reflecting the biggest year-over-year drop since July of 2012.
Export prices inched up by an annual rate of 0.3 percent in March, the smallest year-over-year increase since September of 2012.
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