May 15, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Import prices in April 2006

The U.S. Import Price Index rose 2.1 percent in April.

Over-the-month percent change in price index for imports, April 2005–April 2006 (not seasonally adjusted)
[Chart data—TXT]

The advance was driven by an 11.5-percent jump in petroleum prices which followed a comparatively modest 0.5-percent rise the previous month.

The April increase in petroleum prices was the largest for the index since a 13.4-percent rise in March 2005. Petroleum prices rose 32.5 percent over the past 12 months.

Nonpetroleum prices were unchanged in April after decreases in each of the previous two months that largely resulted from lower natural gas prices. For the year ended in April, nonpetroleum prices increased 0.8 percent while overall import prices advanced 5.9 percent.

The price index of overall exports rose 0.6 percent in April as a 0.7-percent increase in nonagricultural prices more than offset a 0.6-percent decline in agricultural prices.

These data are from the BLS International Price program. Import and export price data are subject to revision. Learn more in "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes - April 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-823.

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