Charting import prices over the past 13 months

Import prices fell 3.0 percent in September, the largest one-month decline since April 2003, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Despite the 5.5-percent drop over August and September, the largest two-month decline since the index was first published monthly in December 1988, import prices were still up 14.5 percent over the past year. [Chart data—TXT] The September decrease in import prices was led by a 9.0-percent decline in petroleum prices, the largest monthly drop since October 2006. The September decline in petroleum prices followed an 8.2-percent... [read full story]