The price of items brought into the U.S. dropped again in February, though the decline was more modest than experts had been predicting.
Export prices also slipped during the month, a renewed decline after a rebound in January.
The U.S. Labor Department said that import prices slipped 0.2 percent in February compared to the previous month.
This marked the seventh consecutive month of declines for import prices. However, the reading was more modest than it has been in each of the previous 6 months, with a revised drop of 1.2 percent coming in January.
February's reading for import prices was also more modest than economists had expected. The general consensus was for a drop of 0.8 percent.
Compared to last year, import prices were down 12.8 percent, the largest annual slide since the data were first published in 1982.
For the first time since last July, the price of petroleum imports showed an increase in February, climbing 3.9 percent from the previous month.
In January, petroleum prices were down a revised 4.2 percent, following a 25.2 percent decline in December and a 30.2 percent drop in November.
Excluding the impact of petroleum products, the prices of imports were down 0.6 percent compared to the previous month. This was the seventh consecutive month of declines, though it represented the smallest drop since August of last year.
The drop in non-petroleum prices was led by a 2 percent drop in prices for industrial supplies and materials, including a sharp decline in natural gas prices and a retreat in prices for chemicals and some metals.
Lower prices for food imports and capital goods also contributed to the fall.
Export prices were down 0.1 percent in February compared to the previous month. This marked a renewed fall after the measure broke a 5-month string of declines in January with an advance of 0.5 percent.
Agricultural exports led the decline, falling by 1.7 percent in February. The prices for other exports were up 0.1 percent, matching the advance that took place in the previous month.
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