By Ed Frankl
Import prices ticked up more than expected in April, raising concerns that inflation in the U.S. could stay higher than planned in the months ahead.
Prices rose by 0.9% on month after climbing 0.6% in March, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data set out Thursday. This was a sharper rise than the 0.3% economists had expected, according to a survey carried out by The Wall Street Journal.
It was the largest one-month increase since the index rose 2.9% in March 2022, the bureau said.
Prices for fuel imports rose 2.4%, driving the overall increase, while prices for non-fuel imports rose 0.7%.
The hotter-than-predicted increase in the cost of imports could add to worries for Federal Reserve policymakers about inflation staying stubbornly high in the U.S. On-month inflation eased to 0.3% in April in data published Wednesday, or 3.4% on an annual basis, a relief after data showed endemic inflationary pressures in the early part of this year.
Write to Ed Frankl at edward.frankl@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-16-24 0901ET
