Year-over-year import prices and export prices again declined significantly more than expected.

Analyst Opinion of the Import / Export Price Situation

Month-over-month price index for fuel imports decreased (and non-fuel imports was unchanged) - and the price index for agricultural exports increased.

Import Oil prices were down 9.2 % month-over-month, and export agricultural prices were up 3.9 %.

• with import prices down 1.0 % year-over-year;
• and export prices up 1.1 % year-over-year;
• the markets were expecting (from Econoday):

There is only a marginal correlation between economic activity, recessions, and export/import prices. Prices can be rising or falling going into a recession or entering a period of expansion. Econintersect follows this data series to adjust economic activity for the effects of inflation where there are clear relationships.

Econintersect follows this series to adjust data for inflation.

Year-over-Year Change - Import Prices (blue line) and Export Prices (red line)

There are three cases of deflation outside of a recession - early 1990′s, late 1990′s, and mid 2000′s. Import price deflation is normally associated with strengthening of the dollar relative to other currencies.

According to the press release:

All Imports: U.S. import prices declined 1.0 percent in December, after decreasing 1.9 percent in November and rising 0.5 percent in October. The November drop was the largest monthly decline since the index fell 3.2 percent in January 2015. Prices for imports decreased 0.6 percent in 2018 following a 3.2-percent increase the previous year. The decline in 2018 was the first calendar-year drop since import prices fell 8.3 percent in 2015. (See table 1.) Fuel Imports: Prices for import fuel declined 9.2 percent in December, after a 13.3-percent drop the previous month. The December decrease was driven by an 11.6-percent decline in petroleum prices which more than offset a 30.3-percent advance in natural gas prices. Import fuel prices fell 10.4 percent in 2018 following a 21.8-percent increase the previous year. The 2018 decline is the first calendar-year decrease since 2015, when import fuel prices fell 41.0 percent. In 2018, a 14.0-percent drop in petroleum prices more than offset a 67.6-percent increase in prices for natural gas.

All Exports: U.S. export prices fell 0.6 percent in December following a 0.8-percent decrease in November. Nonagricultural prices declined in December, more than offsetting higher prices for agricultural goods. Despite the December downturn, U.S. export prices increased 1.1 percent in 2018. The price index for U.S. exports has not recorded a calendar-year decrease since falling 6.6 percent in 2015. (See table 2.) Agricultural Exports: Prices for agricultural exports advanced 3.9 percent in December, the largest increase for the index since a 4.8-percent rise in August 2012. The December advance follows a 1.7-percent rise in November and a 0.1-percent drop in October. Price increases for soybeans and nuts contributed to the December advance, more than offsetting lower fruit prices. Agricultural export prices rose 2.5 percent in 2018, after increasing 1.9 percent in 2017. The 2018 increase was the largest calendar-year advance since the price index for agricultural exports rose 13.4 percent in 2012.

Month-over-Month Change - Import Prices (blue line) and Export Prices (red line)

The biggest mover of import and export prices are usually oil (imports) and agricultural products (exports).

Oil Import Price Change Month-over-Month (blue line) and Agriculture Export Change Month-over-Month (red line)

Caveats on the Use of the Export/Import Price Index

Both import and export prices index values shown in this post is a weighted average for the entire category of exports or imports. The BLS has many sub-categories relating to a particular commodity or goods. Econintersect using spot checks believes these subindexes are accurate.