ECONOMY/TRADE DEALS: “Prices for foreign goods shipped to the U.S. rose for the fifth consecutive month in April, signaling broader-based inflation pressure even though oil prices have cooled.
Import prices increased 4.1% in April from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday. While the movement of import prices is heavily influenced by oil prices, Wednesday’s report showed an increase driven by a broader base of goods.
Non-petroleum import prices, up 1.1% from a year earlier, experienced the largest yearly increase since March 2012, driven by rising costs for nonfuel industrial supplies, products such as building materials, metals and motor vehicles.”
-Sarah Chaney, “U.S. Import Prices Rose More Than Expected in April,” The Wall Street Journal online, May 10, 2017 3:13pm