March 16, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

February rise in import prices largest since 1990

The U.S. Import Price Index rose 1.9 percent in February. The increase—the largest since October 1990—was primarily led by higher prices for imported petroleum products.

Percent change in import price indexes, all imports and petroleum imports, Mar. 1999.-Feb. 2000
[Chart data—TXT]

Prices for petroleum imports surged 13.9 percent in February, the largest monthly jump in this component since last April. Non-petroleum import prices rose 0.3 percent in February.

Overall, import prices have risen 9.0 percent for the year ended February. The petroleum index has increased for twelve consecutive months and has advanced 168.4 percent over the past year. In contrast, the non-petroleum index increased 0.1 percent during the February 1999-2000 period.

These data are a product of the BLS International Price program. Learn more in "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes - February 2000," news release USDL 00-76. Note: import price data are subject to revision in each of the three months after original publication.

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