The amounts: On Wednesday, the Labour Department said that the U.S. import price index went down 0.4% in September. This is the second month in a row that prices have gone down because of lower fuel prices.
According to a poll by the Wall Street Journal, economists thought the value would drop by 0.3%.
In September, fuel prices dropped 7%, following a 2.9% drop the month before. September has the biggest drop of the whole year.
Taking out fuel, import prices went up 0.1% last month, which is the third month in a row that they have gone up. Consumer items, cars, and industrial supplies all saw the most growth.
Important facts: The price of imports has gone down by 0.1% in the past year, which finished in September. When fuel is taken out, it has gone up 1.8%.
Big picture: Even though average import prices and the ex-fuel index are not moving in the same way, they are both changing at a moderate rate, with no big changes over the past year, according to JP Morgan’s chief U.S. economist, Michael Feroli.
