August 10, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Largest drop in import prices since 1992

The U.S. Import Price Index decreased 1.6 percent in July. The decline, the fifth in the past six months, was attributable to falling prices for both petroleum and nonpetroleum imports.

[Chart data—TXT]

The July drop in the import price index was the largest monthly decline since December 1992. A 6.1-percent decrease in petroleum prices led the decline in July and followed a 0.8-percent decrease in June. 

Nonpetroleum import prices also declined in July, down 1.0 percent, marking the sixth consecutive monthly decrease in this component. July's decline matched the largest historical monthly decrease for nonpetroleum import prices—recorded in December 1992—as each of the major commodity areas declined.

During the past 12 months, imported petroleum prices fell 16.3 percent. Prices for nonpetroleum imports decreased 2.2 percent over the same time period. The price index for overall imports declined 4.2 percent from July 2000 to July 2001.

These data are a product of the BLS International Price program. Learn more in "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes - July 2001," news release USDL 01-249. Note: import price data are subject to revision in each of the three months after original publication.