U.S. import-price index increases less than expected in April

The Labor Department reported the import-price index, measuring the cost of goods ranging from Canadian oil to Chinese electronics, rose 0.2 percent m-o-m in April, following an unrevised 0.6-percent m-o-m increase in March. Economists had expected prices to gain 0.7 percent m-o-m last month. 

According to the report, prices for fuel imports rose 2.5 percent m-o-m in April, after advancing 6.9 percent m-o-m in March. A 6.1-percent m-o-m rise in petroleum prices drove the gain in fuel prices. Meanwhile, natural gas prices declined 53.7 percent m-o-m in April, the largest drop since the index was first published on a monthly basis in December 1994. The prices for nonfuel imports edged down 0.1 percent m-o-m in April, after falling 0.2 percent m-o-m in March as falling prices for finished goods and nonfuel industrial supplies and materials more than offset an increase in prices for foods, feeds, and beverages.

Over the 12-month period ended in April, import prices recorded a 0.2 percent decrease, driven by lower nonfuel prices.

The price index for U.S. exports also rose 0.2 percent m-o-m in April, following a revised 0.6 percent m-o-m gain in the previous month (originally a 0.7 percent increase). 

Rising prices for nonagricultural exports (+0.4 percent m-o-m) led the overall increase in April and more than offset a decline in prices for agricultural exports (-1.5 percent m-o-m).

Over the past 12 months, the price index for exports rose 0.3 percent.