Friday, February 15, 2008

What Inflation?

From the BLS:

The U.S. Import Price Index increased 1.7 percent in January, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today, led by a 5.5 percent increase in petroleum prices. The overall increase followed a 0.2 percent decline in December. U.S. export prices advanced 1.2 percent in January following a 0.4 percent rise in December.

The January increase in overall imports resumed the upward trend of the past year after a 0.2 percent decrease in December. The index, which had risen 3.1 percent in November and 1.5 percent in October, is up 13.7 percent over the past 12 months, the largest year-over-year increase since the index was first published in September 1982.