Economy

U.S. Export Prices Outpace Imports, Both Beat Forecasts

Import, Export, Logistics concept – Map global partner connection of Container Cargo freight ship for Logistic Import Export background (Photo: AdobeStock/Elements of this image furnished by NASA)

U.S. import prices and export prices rose by 0.6% and 0.7%, respectively, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. This is the second straight month U.S. export prices have risen by 0.7%.

The consensus forecast for imports was looking for a 0.4% gain, ranging from a low of 0.3% to a high of 0.6%. The consensus forecast for exports was looking for a 0.3% gain, ranging from a low of 0.1% to a high of 0.3%.

	Prior	Revised	Consensus	Range	Actual
Import Prices – M/M	0.6%	1.0%	0.4%	0.3% — 0.6%	0.6%
Export Prices – M/M	0.6%	0.7%	0.3%	0.1% — 0.3%	0.7%
Import Prices – Y/Y	-1.3%	-0.8%	-0.6%	-1.0% — -0.4%	0.0%
Export Prices – Y/Y	0.3 %	0.3 %	0.6 %

Imports

Prices for U.S. imports have advanced by 1.7% in the first 3 months of 2019. The increase for the 3 months ended in March was the largest 3-month rise since the index rose 1.9% between October 2017 and January 2018.

The import price index recorded no change over the past 12 months.

Exports

Prices for U.S. imports advanced 0.7% the previous month after declining 0.6% in January and December. Prices for nonagricultural and agricultural exports each contributed to the total gain in March.

U.S. export prices rose 0.6 percent over the past 12 months.

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PPD Business Staff

PPD Business, the economy-reporting arm of People's Pundit Daily, is "making sense of current events." We are a no-holds barred, news reporting pundit of, by, and for the people.