WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) – U.S. import prices increased 0.4% over the two months from September to November, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday.
The 43-day government shutdown prevented collection of survey data for October. As a result, the BLS did not publish the monthly changes in import prices for October and November. But monthly changes for a limited number of indexes calculated from nonsurvey data were published.
Import prices edged up 0.1% in the 12 months through November. The longest shutdown in history also prevented the collection of data to produce the Consumer Price Index for October. Though data collection for the Producer Price Index was not affected, the processing was delayed.
Some components of the CPI, PPI and import prices feed into the calculation of the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Indexes, the inflation measures tracked by the Federal Reserve for its 2% target.
Imported fuel prices fell 2.5% over the two-month period ended November. They decreased 6.6% in the 12 months through November.
Food prices fell 0.7% in November after increasing 1.4% in October. Excluding fuels and food, import prices advanced 0.9% in the 12 months through November, reflecting the dollar’s depreciation against the currencies of the United States’ trade partners. The trade-weighted dollar fell about 7.2% in 2025.
The U.S. central bank is expected to keep its benchmark overnight interest rate in the 3.50%-3.75% range at its January 27-28 meeting, even as businesses are absorbing most of the tariffs, preventing inflation from spiking.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
