March 17, 2011 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Import and export prices increase from February 2010 to February 2011
Over the year, overall import prices advanced 6.9 percent in February 2011—the largest 12-month advance since an 8.5-percent increase between May 2009 and May 2010. Over the past 12 months, overall export prices increased 8.6 percent—the largest 12-month advance since a 10.2-percent increase between July 2007 and July 2008.
[Chart data]
From February 2010 to February 2011, fuel import prices rose 18.6 percent, led by a 20.6-percent jump in petroleum prices. Despite rising 23.4 percent over the past 2 months, however, natural gas prices declined 10.9 percent between February 2010 and February 2011.
The price index for nonfuel imports increased 3.6 percent from February 2010 to February 2011—the largest 12-month advance since a 4.8-percent increase between October 2007 and October 2008. The current 12-month rise was mostly driven by a 12.9-percent advance in nonfuel industrial supplies and materials prices and a 15.8-percent increase in prices for foods, feeds, and beverages.
Over the year, agricultural export prices advanced 33.5 percent in February 2011—the largest increase since a 39.7 percent surge in prices from July 2007 to July 2008. Rising cotton prices, up 153.5 percent over the past year, had the largest contribution to the 12-month advance in agricultural prices.
From February 2010 to February 2011, the price index for nonagricultural exports increased 6.2 percent.
These data are from the BLS International Price program. Import and export price data are subject to revision. For more information, see "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — February 2011" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-11-0348.
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