Data released by the Department of Labor’s statistics bureau show that import and export prices fell slightly in March. The price index for imports fell 2.3%, following a 0.7% decline in February. U.S. export prices continued to decline, falling 1.6% in March and 1.1% in February.
The decline in the price index for imports was mainly driven by lower fuel prices. Compared to the price index for all imports, which fell 2.3% the steepest monthly drop since January 2015, petroleum prices fell by 26.8% in March after falling 9.0% in February. The February-to-March 2020 drop is the largest decrease in import fuel prices since November 2008, when that index fell 27.8%. Natural gas prices continued to fall in March, decreasing by 16.5%, following February’s loss of 14.0% and January’s 12.2% drop.
Nonfuel import prices were mostly unchanged, falling half a percent. Lower prices for consumer goods, including food and beverages, offset higher prices for industrial supplies and materials, vehicles and capital goods.
In exports, March 2020’s price indexes were 2.2% lower than those of March 2019, the largest over-the-year decrease since May 2015 to May 2016, when export prices fell 4.5%. Agricultural export prices fell 1.4% following a 2.7% decrease in February. Nonagricultural export prices fell 1.5%. Prices for industrial supplies and materials fell 4.6% in March, in part driven by falling fuel prices. Capital goods and vehicle prices rose, offsetting falling consumer prices.
