Thursday, May 10, 2012
[IWS] BLS: U.S. IMPORT AND EXPORT PRICE INDEXES - APRIL 2012 [10 May 2012]
IWS Documented News Service
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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
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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....
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