October 1997 U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes

Historical release narrative reproduced from the official public-domain source. Statistical tables, standard technical appendices, administrative material and attendance rosters are omitted; formatting is adapted for reading. Figures retain the release's historical context and may have been revised. Consult the linked source for the complete document.

-OCTOBER 1997-

Led by increasing petroleum prices, the U.S. Import Price Index rose 0.1 percent in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported. The increase occurred despite a continued decline in prices for nonpetroleum imports. The Export Price Index decreased 0.3 percent in October after a decline of 0.4 in September.

IMPORTS EXPORTS Month All Petroleum Non- All Agri- Nonagri- Imports Imports Petroleum Exports cultural cultural Imports Exports 1996 October 0.5 7.1 -0.3 -0.2 -2.6 0.0 November -0.2 -0.8 -0.1 -0.4 -2.3 0.0 December 0.3 2.0 0.1 0.0 -0.9 0.1

Import Goods

Import prices rose 0.1 percent last month, but were down 3.8 percent over the year ended in October. A 5.0 percent increase in imported petroleum prices more than offset a continued decline in nonpetroleum imports, down 0.3 percent in October. Despite the October rise, petroleum prices were down 17.2 percent over the past 12 months. The price index for nonpetroleum imports has fallen in 10 of the past 12 months and was down 2.3 percent for the year ended in October.

Prices for imported capital goods continued a two-year decline in October, falling 0.8 percent. Led by an ongoing drop in computer prices, the index for capital goods has fallen 7.1 percent during the past year, following a drop of 2.8 percent during the previous 12-month period. The import price indexes for nonpetroleum industrial supplies and materials and for foods, feeds, and beverages also fell in October, down 0.5 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

The price indexes for imported consumer goods and automotive vehicles both rose 0.2 percent last month. Imported consumer goods prices rose after declines of 0.2 percent in each of the past two months and were down 0.8 percent for the October 1996-97 period. In contrast, the increase for automotive vehicles marked the fifth consecutive monthly advance in this component. For the 12 months ended in October, the index was up just 0.6 percent.

Export Goods

The price index of all exports declined 0.3 percent last month, the seventh consecutive month that export prices were either down or unchanged. For the year ended in October, the index decreased 1.1 percent. Prices for both agricultural and nonagricultural exports contributed to the October decline in overall export prices. Agricultural export prices fell 1.7 percent on average in October and were down 5.8 percent over the past 12 months. The index of nonagricultural prices fell 0.2 percent after a decline of 0.3 percent in September. In the October 1996-97 period, the index declined 0.4 percent.

Contributing to the decline in nonagricultural exports was the third consecutive monthly drop of 0.4 percent in the export price index for nonagricultural industrial supplies and materials. Capital goods export prices also declined in October, falling 0.1 percent after a 0.7 percent drop in September. Over the last 12 months, the index was down 1.2 percent.

In contrast, the export price indexes of consumer goods and automotive vehicles each increased a modest 0.1 percent last month. For the year ended in October, the price indexes for consumer exports and automotive vehicles have posted similar increases, up 0.9 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively.

Imports by Locality of Origin

Import prices from Japan fell 0.6 percent in October, attributable in part to the declining value of the Japanese yen. (See table 7.) For the year ended in October, the index was down 5.0 percent.

The price index for imports from Canada fell 0.1 percent in October after rising 0.4 and 0.3 percent over the previous two months. Over the October 1996-97 period, the index is down 0.9 percent.

Prices for imports from the Asian Newly Industrialized Countries were unchanged in October after falling 0.8 percent in the previous month. For the year ended in October, the index fell 4.0 percent.

The price index of imports from the European Union rose 0.4 percent on average in October, following a 0.6 percent decline in September. Over the past 12 months, however, the index was down 2.4 percent.