U.S. Import Prices Rise in December

U.S. import prices increased for the sixth consecutive month in December, led by rising oil costs, the Labor Department said. The index of imported prices for all goods, including oil, rose 0.7% last month, but excluding petroleum, import prices were unchanged. Petroleum import prices jumped 6%, the largest increase since an 8.3% jump in September. For all of 1999, import prices rose 7% after falling two years in a row. Last year’s increase, the biggest since the Persian Gulf crisis of 1990, reflected a 132.9% rise in oil prices, as world producers cut supply to boost prices from a 12-year low reached in December 1998. Excluding petroleum, import prices were unchanged in 1999 after three years of declines. Export prices in December rose 0.1%, as falling agricultural prices restrained increases in the costs of other goods. For all of 1999, export prices rose 0.5%, the first increase since 1995.