August 11, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Petroleum import prices fall in July

The U.S. Import Price Index was unchanged in July after increasing 1.2 percent in June. A decline in petroleum prices in July offset a rise in nonpetroleum prices.

Percent change in price index for petroleum imports, July 1999-July 2000
[Chart data—TXT]

Prior to July, import prices had advanced in 11 of the previous 12 months. In July, a 2.4 percent drop in the volatile petroleum index came after an increase of 10.0 percent in June. Nonpetroleum import prices rose 0.3 percent in July after increasing 0.1 percent in the previous month.

Over the past 12 months petroleum prices rose 59.5 percent.

These data are a product of the BLS International Price program. Learn more in "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes - July 2000," news release USDL 00-226. Note: import price data are subject to revision in each of the three months after original publication.