U.S. Import Prices Down 0.1% in September
October 09 2015 - 9:30AM
Dow Jones News
WASHINGTON—Prices for imported goods fell for the third straight
month in September, a reminder of the downward pressure on
inflation from a strong dollar and slower overseas growth.
Import prices fell 0.1% from the prior month, the Labor
Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street
Journal had expected a 0.5% decline.
The small monthly drop was led by lower prices on foods, capital
goods and nonfuel industrial supplies. Import prices for consumer
goods, petroleum and other fuels rose.
While the monthly decline was the mildest since June, overall
import prices are down 10.7% from a year earlier. The
year-over-year figure has declined for 14 consecutive months.
Petroleum import prices are down 46.1% from a year ago but
aren't the only drag. The index for non-petroleum imports was down
3.3% over the past year, the biggest decline since October
2009.
Weaker growth in China and other emerging markets has tamped
down demand for many commodities, lowering their prices. A stronger
dollar, meanwhile, makes overseas goods relatively cheaper at
home.
Last month, Federal Reserve officials held off on raising
interest rates from near zero in large part because of worries
about when inflation would reach the central bank's 2% target. It
has undershot for more than three years.
One big concern: "Recent global economic and financial
developments had imparted some restraint to the economic outlook
and placed further downward pressure on inflation in the near
term," minutes of the September meeting, released on Thursday,
said.
Fed officials believe many of the factors keeping inflation so
low are temporary.
U.S. export prices dropped 0.7% in September from the prior
month. Export prices are down 7.4% year-over-year, the biggest
decline since July 2009.
The index for non-agricultural exports is down 6.7% from a year
earlier, the largest 12-month decline since the index began
publication in 1985.
Unlike many other price gauges measured by the government,
import prices aren't seasonally adjusted.
Write to Jeffrey Sparshott at jeffrey.sparshott@wsj.com and Anna
Louie Sussman at anna.sussman@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 09, 2015 09:15 ET (13:15 GMT)
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