February 20, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Export prices in January 2008

U.S. export prices advanced 1.2 percent in January following a 0.4-percent rise in December.

Over-the-month percent change in price index for exports, January 2007–January 2008 (not seasonally adjusted)
[Chart data—TXT]

The 1.2-percent increase in export prices was the largest one-month gain in the index since a 1.2-percent increase in January 1989. Higher prices for both agricultural exports and nonagricultural exports contributed to the advance.

Agricultural prices rose 5.0 percent in January after a 2.8-percent increase in December. Higher prices for corn and soybeans drove the increase in agricultural prices. Over the past 12 months, the price index for agricultural exports rose 28.9 percent.

Nonagricultural prices also increased in January, rising 0.8 percent following a 0.3-percent advance in December. The index rose 4.8 percent over the past year.

These data are from the BLS International Price program. Export price data are subject to revision. Learn more in "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes -- January 2008" (PDF) (HTML), news release USDL 08-0205.

Related TED article:

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