Import Prices Drop 0.5% in February

March 15, 2006 8:50 AM, EST

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mported goods prices fell 0.5% in January, the Labor Department said Thursday. The decline was the same when excluding oil prices, Labor said.

The drop followed a 1.4% rise in January. Economists had forecast a 0.6% decline in February, Bloomberg reported.

Prices for U.S. goods exported to other countries were unchanged, following a 0.7% gain in January.

rices for all imported goods last month were 7.4% higher than a year earlier, compared with an 8.9% year-over-year rise in January, Labor said.