November 14, 2005 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Import prices down in October 2005

Import prices declined 0.3 percent in October after increasing 2.3 percent in September. A downturn in petroleum prices more than offset higher nonpetroleum prices.

[Chart data—TXT]

The 0.3-percent decline in the price index of U.S. imports marked the first decrease for the index since May and only the second monthly drop recorded in 2005. Prior to the October decline, import prices rose 6.3 percent between May and September, driven by a 36.2-percent jump in petroleum prices over that period.

In October, petroleum prices decreased 4.4 percent, but still rose 30.9 percent over the past 12 months. In contrast, nonpetroleum prices continued to rise, increasing 0.8 percent last month after advancing 1.0 percent in September. For the year ended in October, prices of nonpetroleum imports rose 3.7 percent while overall import prices increased 8.1 percent.

Export prices increased 0.6 percent in October, as rising prices for both agricultural exports and nonagricultural exports contributed to the advance.

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 - October 2005" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 05-2146.