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The
Labor Department said on Thursday import prices fell 1.8 percent
last month, the largest decline since January, after an
unrevised 0.9 percent drop in July. Import prices have now
declined in 12 of the last 14 months.
Economists had forecast import prices falling 1.6 percent.
In the 12 months through August, prices declined 11.4 percent,
the largest drop since September 2009.
Very low inflation, in the face of a tightening labor market and
strengthening economic growth, poses a challenge for Federal
Reserve officials as they contemplate raising interest rates for
the first time in nearly a decade.
The Fed's policy-setting committee will meet on Sept. 16-17.
Economists are divided on whether the U.S. central bank will
raise rates at that meeting in the wake of recent volatility in
global financial markets, which was sparked by fears of slower
growth in China and other major emerging markets.
Last month, imported petroleum prices tumbled 14.2 percent, the
biggest drop since January, after falling 5.9 percent in July.
Import prices excluding petroleum slipped 0.4 percent,
reflecting the impact of the dollar's 17.5 percent rise against
the currencies of the United States' main trading partners since
June 2014.
In August, imported food prices rose 0.3 percent after being
flat in July. Prices for imported capital goods fell 0.2
percent, as did prices for imported automobiles.
The report also showed export prices fell 1.4 percent, also the
largest drop in seven months. Export prices slipped 0.4 percent
in July. They were down 7.0 percent in the 12 months through
August, the biggest drop since July 2009.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)
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