The numbers: The cost of U.S. imported goods fell 0.2% in June, the Labor Department said Friday. Import prices have fallen every month of the year except April.
Economists surveyed by the Wall Street were expecting a 0.1% decline.
Excluding fuel, import prices were down 0.4% last month, the government said.
Key details: On a year-on-year basis, import prices are down 6.1%, the largest drop since May 2020
The cost of foreign-produced fuel rose 0.8% in June but is down 36.4% over the past year. That’s the largest 12-month decline since May 2020.
Non-fuel import prices have fallen 1.4% over the past 12 months.
Big picture: U.S. inflation is moderating, helped in part by commodity prices. Energy had been leading the decline but now non-fuel prices are weakening. Given the soft inflation readings in June, economists are starting to believe that the Fed will only raise interest rates one more time in July.
Market reaction: Stocks
DJIA,
SPX,
were set to open higher on Friday while the yield on the 10-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
fell to 3.78%.
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