U.S. Annual Import Price Growth Reaches 10-Year High In November

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.

The Labor Department said import prices climbed by 0.7 percent in November after surging by an upwardly revised 1.5 percent in October.

Economists had expected import prices to advance by 0.7 percent compared to the 1.2 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.

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.

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.

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.

“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.”

He added, “Thereafter, healthier supply management and more moderate domestic consumption should work to gradually relieve import price pressures.”

The report also showed export prices jumped by 1.0 percent in November after spiking by an upwardly revised 1.6 percent in October.

Economists had expected export prices to rise by 0.5 percent compared to the 1.5 percent surge originally reported for the previous month.

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.

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.

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