U.S. import and export prices both increased in the month of February, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Wednesday, with the increase in import prices largely due to a notable jump in fuel prices. The report showed that import prices rose by 0.4 percent in February after coming in unchanged in each of the two previous months. Economists had expected import prices to increase by 0.6 percent. The Labor Department noted that the increase marked only the second time that import prices have recorded a monthly advance greater than 0.1 percent since the index jumped 2.6 percent in April of 2011. Excluding a 1.4 percent increase in the price of fuel imports, import prices actually fell by 0.1 percent in February compared to a 0.1 percent increase in January. The increase in fuel imports prices reflected a 1.8 percent increase in petroleum prices. On the other hand, natural gas prices fell for the third straight month, tumbling by 10.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the drop in non-fuel import prices came as a 3.0 percent drop in food prices and a 0.1 percent decline in capital goods prices more than offset higher prices for non-fuel industrial supplies and materials