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| Reports on Import Prices/International Trade - May. 12, 2004 |
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Import Prices
According to this morning's release from the Labor Department, April import prices rose 0.2%. The price of petroleum goods fell 0.8% during the period, but the decline was more than offset by a 0.3% rise in non-petroleum goods.
Year over year, import prices have risen 4.6%. Over the three months ended April, they were up at an annual rate of 5.8%.
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March Trade Numbers
Elsewhere, the Commerce Department reported this morning that the deficit in US goods-and-services trade rose to $46.0 billion in March -- a record! This was up a sharp $3.9 billion from February's revised red ink of $42.1 billion.
The March deficit was the result of total exports of $94.7 billion, accompanied by total imports of $140.7 billion.
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NOTE: In earlier writing, I may have stated that today was the release date for US producer prices. In fact, the PPI is due for release tomorrow at 8:30 AM (ET).
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