Summary
Is a weak dollar a good dollar? I'm not getting into this multi-faceted
debate here, other than to observe that when as much of your consumption is
dependent upon imports as is the case with the United States, a weak dollar can
certainly open another door to inflation. This phenomenon was again evident
with today's release of import-price data.
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Earlier today, the Labor Department released import-price data for March.
The latest numbers revealed the sixth month in a row of rising prices for
all imports, sixth consecutive month of rising prices for petroleum imports, and
fifth consecutive month of higher prices for non-petroleum imports.
Prices for two of the three series -- "all imports" and "petroleum
imports" -- showed an acceleration over the trailing three-month period. Meanwhile,
the third series, "nonpetroleum imports," registered only a modest decline in
its rate of price change over the latest three months.
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U.S. IMPORT PRICES
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Petro- Non-Petro-
Month/ All leum leum
Year Imports Imports Imports
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03/04 0.9% 6.1% 0.2%
02/04 0.4% 0.1% 0.4%
01/04 1.5% 7.4% 0.8%
12/03 0.7% 5.1% 0.3%
11/03 0.5% 2.1% 0.2%
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3 Months
Ended:
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Nonannualized
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03/04 2.8% 14.1% 1.4%
02/04 2.6% 13.0% 1.5%
01/04 2.7% 15.2% 1.3%
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Annualized
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03/04 11.8% 69.3% 5.7%
02/04 10.9% 63.0% 6.2%
01/04 11.3% 76.4% 5.3%
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