MW: U.S. import price index declines 0.1% in December
By Ruth Mantell
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Prices paid for goods imported into the U.S. declined 0.1% in December, with lower prices for both fuel and nonfuel imports, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected import prices to rise 0.1% in December. The government revised November's decline in import prices to 0.8% from a prior estimate of a 0.9% drop. Import prices for fuel declined 0.1% in December, as did prices for nonfuel imports. Meanwhile, the price of U.S.-made goods exported to other nations also declined 0.1%. For 2012, overall import prices fell 1.5%, the lowest change since 2008, led down by fuel imports. Meanwhile, in 2012 export prices rose 1.1%, also reaching the lowest change since 2008.
