Forex

WASHINGTON - Falling prices for imported food and energy led overall import prices to much rise less than expected in February, the Labor Department said today.

Import prices rose 0.2 pct in February, down sharply from the 1.6 pct rise in January. Economists polled by Thomson's IFR Markets were predicting a larger increase of 0.6 pct for the month.

February's modest increase in import prices was due in large part to a 1.5 pct drop in the price of petroleum imports. Petroleum import prices have now fallen in two of the last three months, but were up a sharp 4.8 pct in January.

Food prices also dropped in February, by 0.1 pct. That's the first decrease in food imports since a 0.2 pct decline in March 2007.

Despite these recent drops, food and energy prices are still up sharply over the last 12 months. Petroleum import prices rose 60.9 pct over the last year, and crude oil prices, up 0.7 pct in February, rose 67.0 pct in the last year.

Food prices rose 11.0 pct over the last 12 months.

Import prices excluding petroleum rose 0.6 pct in February, reflecting increased prices for industrial supplies.

In the last 12 months ending February, overall import prices rose 13.6 pct, down slightly from the 13.8 pct annual gain the prior month.

The price of goods from major supplier countries to the US economy moderated in February.

The price of goods from Mexico fell 1.2 pct, although prices are up 17.3 pct over the last year. Prices of imports from Canada rose only 0.1 pct, and are up 13.7 pct over the last year.

The price of imports from China also rose 0.1 pct.

US export prices in February rose 0.9 pct, down from the 1.2 pct increase in January. Agricultural export prices again drove this increase, as they rose 4.4 pct in February, the ninth consecutive monthly increase.

Excluding agriculture, US export prices were up 0.5 pct.