April 12, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Petroleum import prices down in March

The U.S. Import Price Index fell 1.6 percent in March. Prices for the volatile petroleum component fell 5.9 percent last month, after gaining 1.1 percent in February. Over the past 12 months, imported petroleum prices were down 11.0 percent.

Over-the-month percent change in price index for petroleum imports, March 2000-March 2001 (not seasonally adjusted)
[Chart data—TXT]

Nonpetroleum import prices also declined in March, down 0.9 percent after falling 0.8 percent in February. From March 2000 to March 2001, prices for nonpetroleum imports were unchanged. Over the same time period, the price index for overall imports was down 1.5 percent.

These data are a product of the BLS International Price program. Learn more in "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes - March 2001," news release USDL 01-82. Note: import price data are subject to revision in each of the three months after original publication.

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