February 16, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Import prices fall again

The U.S. Import Price Index decreased 0.4 percent in January. The decline followed a 0.8-percent decrease in the previous month and was largely attributable to a drop in petroleum prices.

[Chart data—TXT]

The January decrease for overall import prices was led by a 5.0-percent decline for imported petroleum prices, which had dropped 10.8 percent in the previous month. The index for nonpetroleum import prices rose 0.3 percent in January, following a 0.9-percent increase in the previous month.

Overall import prices rose 2.3 percent for the 12 months ended in January.

These data are a product of the BLS International Price program. Learn more in "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes - January 2001," news release USDL 01-43. Note: import price data are subject to revision in each of the three months after original publication.