WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Prices of imported goods fell the most in two decades - the third consecutive month of declines -- as petroleum prices plunged, the Labor Department reported Friday.
The 4.7% decline in the import price index is the largest since the monthly data started in 1988. Analysts surveyed by MarketWatch were looking for a decline of 4.8%. See Economic Calendar.
Import prices fell 3.3% in September, revised from a prior estimate of a 3% dip.
In October, imported petroleum prices fell 16.7% -- the largest one-month decline since April 2003. Excluding petroleum, import prices fell 0.9%. Over the three months ended in October, ex-petroleum prices fell 2.2% -- the largest quarterly decline since the index was first published in 1985.
Meanwhile, natural gas prices fell 4.9% in October.
Excluding all fuels, import prices fell 0.8% in October, the largest one-month decline since the index was first published in December 2001.
Overall import prices were up 6.7% over the past 12 months.
In October, U.S. export prices fell 1.9% -- the largest one-month decline since the index was first published monthly in 1988. Over the past three months, export prices decreased 4.3% -- the largest three-month decline since the index was first published in 1983.
U.S. agricultural export prices fell 8.7% in October and are down 17.4% for the past three months - the largest three-month decline since the index was first published in 1985. Non-agricultural export prices fell 1.2% in October - the largest monthly decline since 1988.
