December 16, 2008
(The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Export prices in November 2008
Export prices fell 3.2 percent in November, the largest one-month decline since the index was first published monthly in December 1988. The decrease followed drops of 2.0 percent, 0.8 percent, and 1.6 percent in October, September, and August, respectively.
![Over-the-month percent change in price index for exports, November 2007–November 2008 (not seasonally adjusted)](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120925070226im_/http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/images/2008/dec/wk3/art02.gif)
[Chart data—TXT]
The 7.4-percent decrease over the past four months was the largest four-month decline since the index was first published in September 1983. As a result of the recent downward trend, export prices fell 0.2 percent over the past 12 months.
The price index for agricultural exports fell 7.0 percent in November and 23.0 percent over the past four months, the largest four-month drop since the index was first published in March 1985. The November drop was led by falling prices for meat, corn, soybeans, and wheat. Agricultural prices, which had risen 39.7 percent from July 2007 to July 2008, fell 2.8 percent for the year ended in November.
Nonagricultural prices fell for the fourth consecutive month, declining 2.9 percent in November following decreases of 1.3 percent, 0.9 percent, and 0.7 percent, respectively, in October, September, and August. The November decline was the largest one-month drop for the index since first being published monthly in December 1988 and was led by an 8.2-percent drop in prices for nonagricultural industrial supplies and materials. That decline was driven by lower prices for fuels, chemicals, and metals. The price index for nonagricultural exports was unchanged 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 — November 2008," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 08-1804.
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