Economy: Import and Export Price Indexes for February 2022

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Import and Export Price Indexes for February 2022

The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning released its report on U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes for February 2022:

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Import Prices
Predicted: +1.5%
Actual: +1.4%

Change From 12 Months Previous: +10.9%

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Export Prices
Predicted: +2.8%
Actual: +3.0%

Change From 12 Months Previous: +16.6%

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The above percentages, highlighted in yellow, represent the month-to-month change in prices for:

Imports: the cost of goods produced in other countries and sold in the United States.
Exports: the cost of goods produced in the USA and sold in other countries.

Together, these indexes offer insight into the status of inflation in the United States, and for the global economy as well. The "predicted" figure is what economists were expecting, while the "actual" is the true or real figure.

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From Today's Report:

"...Imports:

Fuel Imports: Import fuel prices advanced 6.9 percent in February, after increasing 7.7 percent the previous month. Higher petroleum prices more than offset a decrease in natural gas prices. Prices for import fuel rose 53.0 percent for the year ended in February. The price index for import petroleum increased 8.1 percent in February following a 7.9-percent rise in January. The February advance was the largest monthly increase for the index since October 2021. Import petroleum prices increased 52.8 percent over the past year. In contrast, natural gas prices declined 10.0 percent in February, after rising 6.8 percent in January and decreasing 10.5 percent in December. Despite recent drops, the index advanced 61.6 percent from February 2021 to February 2022.

Exports:

U.S. export prices rose 3.0 percent in February, after a 2.8-percent advance the previous month. The February increase was the largest monthly rise since 1-month percent changes were first published in January 1989. Higher prices for both agricultural and nonagricultural exports in February contributed to the overall advance in U.S. export prices. Prices for U.S. exports increased 16.6 percent for the year ended in February..."

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