IWS Documented News INTERNATIONAL

IWS Documented News Service

_______________________________

Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach

School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies

Cornell University

16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky

New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau

________________________________________________________________________

 

U.S. IMPORT AND EXPORT PRICE INDEXES - APRIL 2012 [10 May 2012]

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ximpim.nr0.htm

or

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ximpim.pdf

[full-text, 16 pages]

and

Supplemental Files Table of Contents

http://www.bls.gov/web/ximpim.supp.toc.htm

 

 

U.S. import prices declined 0.5 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today,

following a 1.5 percent increase in March. The April decrease was driven by lower fuel prices which more

than offset a small increase in nonfuel prices. The price index for overall exports rose 0.4 percent in April

after a 0.8 percent increase the previous month.

 

Imports

              

All Imports: Prices for U.S. imports fell 0.5 percent in April, the first monthly decrease since a 0.4 percent

decline in October 2011 and the largest one-month drop since the index decreased 0.6 percent in June 2011.

Despite the April decline, import prices rose 0.5 percent over the past year, although that was the smallest

12-month advance since the index last recorded a year-over-year decrease in October 2009. 

 

Fuel Imports: A 2.1 percent drop in fuel prices led the overall decline in import prices in April. The decrease

in fuel prices followed a 4.4 percent increase in March and was the largest decline for the index since a

similar 2.1 percent decrease in August 2011. A 1.8 percent decline in petroleum prices and a 14.1 percent

drop in natural gas prices each contributed to the April decrease in overall fuel prices. Fuel prices also fell

over the past 12 months as a 45.3 percent decline in natural gas prices more than offset higher petroleum

prices that ticked up 0.1 percent from April 2011 to April 2012. The decrease in overall fuel prices was the

first 12-month decline since the index fell 14.2 percent for the year ended in October 2009.    

 

All Imports Excluding Fuel: The price index for nonfuel prices ticked up 0.1 percent in April after rising

0.5 percent the previous month. Higher prices for nonfuel industrial supplies and materials, automotive

vehicles, consumer goods, and foods, feeds, and beverages all contributed to the increase in overall nonfuel

prices. Capital goods prices were unchanged. Nonfuel prices rose 1.3 percent over the past 12 months. 

 

AND MUCH MORE...including TABLES....

 

 

________________________________________________________________________

This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.