Continuing the upward trend seen throughout most of 2021, the Labor Department released a report on Wednesday showing U.S. import prices increased in line with economist estimates in the month of November.<\/p>\n
The Labor Department said import prices climbed by 0.7 percent in November after surging by an upwardly revised 1.5 percent in October. <\/p>\n
Economists had expected import prices to advance by 0.7 percent compared to the 1.2 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.<\/p>\n
The increase in import prices partly reflected another jump in prices for fuel imports, which shot up by 2.0 percent in November after skyrocketing by 11.1 percent in October.<\/p>\n
Excluding fuel imports, import prices rose by 0.5 percent for the second straight month amid higher prices for non-fuel industrial supplies and materials, capital goods, consumer goods, and automotive vehicles.<\/p>\n
Compared to the same month a year ago, import prices in November were up by 11.7 percent, reflecting the biggest increase since September of 2011.<\/p>\n
“Resilient domestic demand will likely continue to outstrip pandemic-hampered supply in the coming months,” said Mahir Rasheed, U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics. “Stronger global growth will also keep energy prices on a firm footing, keeping import price inflation uncomfortably high through Q1 2022.”<\/p>\n
He added, “Thereafter, healthier supply management and more moderate domestic consumption should work to gradually relieve import price pressures.”<\/p>\n
The report also showed export prices jumped by 1.0 percent in November after spiking by an upwardly revised 1.6 percent in October.<\/p>\n
Economists had expected export prices to rise by 0.5 percent compared to the 1.5 percent surge originally reported for the previous month.<\/p>\n
Prices for agricultural exports increased by 0.8 percent amid higher prices for wheat, fruit, cotton and corn, while prices for non-agricultural exports jumped by 1.0 percent.<\/p>\n
Export prices in November were up by 18.2 percent year-over-year, showing the fastest spike since the data was first published in September of 1984. <\/p>\n