January 13, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Import and export prices rise in 1999

Over the past year, import prices rose 7.0 percent after falling 6.4 percent in 1998 and 5.2 percent in 1997.

[Chart data—TXT]

The 1999 annual increase in overall import prices was the largest recorded for the index since 1990. Import prices excluding petroleum, however, were unchanged for the year. Over the past 12 months, the petroleum index rose 132.9 percent.

Export prices also increased over the past year, up a more modest 0.5 percent. The calendar year increase in export prices was the first recorded since 1995.

These data are a product of the BLS International Price program. Learn more in "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes - December 1999," news release USDL 00-10. Annual percent changes are December-to-December changes. Data for December 1999 are preliminary.