U.S. Import Prices Inch Up 0.1% For Third Straight Month In December

(RTTNews) - Following yesterday's more closely watched report on consumer price inflation, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing import prices in the U.S. crept up in line with estimates in the month of December.

The Labor Department said import prices inched up by 0.1 percent in December, matching the upticks seen in November and October as well as expectations.

Meanwhile, the report said the annual rate of import price growth accelerated to 2.2 percent in December from 1.4 percent in November, reaching the fastest pace of growth since a 3.2 percent spike in December 2022.

The modest monthly increase by import prices partly reflected a jump by prices for fuel imports, which shot up by 1.4 percent in December after climbing by 0.9 percent in November.

Excluding the sharp increase by prices for fuel imports, however, imports still crept up by 0.1 percent for the second consecutive month.

The Labor Department said a 2.8 percent surge by prices for foods, feeds, and beverages more than offset lower prices for non-fuel industrial supplies and materials, capital goods, and automotive vehicles.

Prices for non-fuel imports jumped by 2.4 percent on an annual basis for the third consecutive month in December.

"Import prices rose modestly in December, capping off an encouraging week of inflation data and keeping the Fed on track to cut rates in the first half of this year," said Matthew Martin, Senior U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

He added, "The recent rise in global oil prices will feed through to higher fuel import prices and some volatility to the data, but we expect the Fed will look through any temporary sources of inflation."

The report also said export prices climbed by 0.3 percent in December after coming in unchanged in November. Export prices were expected to rise by 0.2 percent.

The annual rate of export price growth accelerated to 1.8 percent in December from 0.9 percent in November, market the fastest year-over-year growth since a 2.0 percent jump in January 2023.

Prices for agricultural exports increased by 0.5 percent in December after inching up by 0.1 percent in November, while prices for non- agricultural exports rose by 0.3 percent in December after coming in unchanged in November.