By Xavier Fontdegloria
Prices of products imported to the United States increased in December, breaking a streak of five consecutive months of decline, due to higher natural gas prices.
Import prices rose 0.4% in December on the month after falling 0.7% in November, its first increase since June, data from the Labor Department showed on Friday. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected prices to drop 0.8%.
The increase in import prices was driven by both higher fuel and non-fuel prices. Fuel prices rose 0.6%, as a 59.5% monthly increase in natural gas prices more than offset a 2.7% drop in oil prices. Excluding fuels, prices increased by 0.4%, the first monthly increase since April.
On an annual basis, import prices rose 3.5% in December, from a 2.7% increase in the year in November.
Write to Xavier Fontdegloria at xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-13-23 0858ET
