Recent Updates
- Bangladesh: BOP (Nov), Stock Exchange Indicators (Jan)
- Philippines: CPI (Feb)
- Thailand: International Trade by Region (Jan)
- Japan: First 20 Days Trade, Bank of Japan's Transactions (Feb)
- India: Mutual Funds (Feb)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Rise Just 9,000
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose modestly by 9,000 to 745,000 in the week ended February 27...
U.S. Productivity's Decline Lessened in Q4'20; Reverses Q3 Increase
Revisions to nonfarm business sector productivity indicated a 4.2% decline during Q4'20...
EMU Unemployment Rate Steadies in January
The overall EMU unemployment rate was steady in January, off peak, but still elevated...
U.S. ADP Nonfarm Private Payroll Increase Disappoints in February
Job market strength moderated last month....
U.S. ISM Services Index Weakens in February
The ISM Composite Index of Services Activity declined to 55.3 during February...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Gerald D. Cohen February 15, 2019
Import prices fell a greater-than-expected 0.5% during January (-1.7% year-on-year) following a 1.0% drop in December. Prices were down 1.7% in November. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected a flat reading for January. These figures are not seasonally adjusted.
The decline in import prices last month was led by a 0.7% drop (-0.4% y/y) in nonpetroleum import costs which followed a 0.3% rise. Petroleum import prices edged down 0.1% (-14.5 y/y) following double-digit decreases in the prior two months. Among end-use categories, industrial supplies & materials costs excluding petroleum fell 3.3% (-0.9% y/y). Capital goods prices ticked up 0.1% (-0.1% y/y). Motor vehicle & parts prices were down 0.2% (-0.4% y/y). Nonauto consumer goods prices declined 0.3% (+0.3% y/y).
Export prices decreased a greater-than expected 0.6% for the second consecutive month (-0.2% y/y). Forecasters' anticipated -0.3%. Agricultural commodities prices dropped 2.1% last month (+0.2% y/y) reversing some of December's 3.8% rise. Nonagricultural export costs declined 0.3% (-0.2% y/y), down for the third consecutive month. Food, feeds & beverage prices fell 2.1% (+0.7% y/y). While the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that as a result of the government shutdown they did not have data from their usual source for Wheat, Soy and Corn, the Food and Agricultural categories were unaffected. The cost of industrial supplies & materials weakened 1.3% (-2.3% y/y). Capital goods prices rose 0.4% (1.4% y/y), while motor vehicle & parts prices edged up 0.1% (+0.4% y/y). Nonauto consumer goods prices declined 0.4% (-0.1% y/y).
The import and export price series can be found in Haver's USECON database. Detailed figures are available in the USINT database. The expectations figure from the Action Economics Forecast Survey is in the AS1REPNA database.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently published an interesting piece, The Perplexing Co-Movement of the Dollar and Oil Prices, which is available here.
Import/Export Prices (NSA, %) | Jan | Dec | Nov | Jan Y/Y | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Imports - All Commodities | -0.5 | -1.0 | -1.7 | -1.7 | 3.2 | 2.9 | -3.3 |
Petroleum & Petroleum Products | -0.1 | -10.7 | -15.1 | -14.5 | 22.4 | 26.6 | -19.7 |
Nonpetroleum | -0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | -0.4 | 1.3 | 1.1 | -1.5 |
Exports - All Commodities | -0.6 | -0.6 | -0.8 | -0.2 | 3.4 | 2.4 | -3.2 |
Agricultural | -2.1 | 3.8 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.5 | -5.4 |
Nonagricultural | -0.3 | -1.1 | -1.0 | -0.2 | 3.7 | 2.5 | -3.0 |