Rising Fuel Prices Send U.S. Import Price Index Higher

By: Tomas Ronolski - AllPennyStocks.com News

Friday, April 12, 2024

The cost of imported goods rose 0.4 percent in March, the third consecutive increase as higher oil prices added pressure to U.S. inflation. Fuel imports jumped by 4.7 percent, while non-food import costs edged up by only 0.1 percent. For the first quarter, U.S. import prices advanced 1.4 percent, the largest quarterly increase since 2022.

The cost of imports fell steadily in late 2022 and 2023 before increasing this year, pushing the annual import inflation rate from a decline of 0.9 percent in February to a rise of 0.4 percent in March, signaling the end of cheap imports in the U.S. By region, imports from China were 0.1 percent lower, a downward trend that has persisted since October 2022. Imports from Canada and Mexico rose for the month, up 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Export prices rose 0.3 percent for the month, however, they fell 1.4 percent from March 2023 to March 2024, the smallest 12-month rate in over a year.

The Import Price Index measures the change in the price of imported goods and services purchased domestically. A higher-than-expected reading should be taken as positive/bullish for the US dollar, while a lower-than-expected reading should be taken as negative/bearish.

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