US import prices post biggest gain in seven months

The U.S. import prices recorded their biggest increase in seven months this August as the cost of petroleum surged. Following the ecological turmoil that has been caused by the hurricanes in August, the cost of petroleum will continue to rise. This has many Americans turning to imports for fuels like gasoline, kerosene, and diesel oil, which are refined from petroleum. Since the hurricanes in the South, the U. S.'s refining capacity is operating at an estimated 30%. Prices for imported petroleum increased by 4.8% this past moth. Import prices outside of petroleum are also rising as the dollar's rally drops. This year, the dollar has weakened by 8.3% against the currencies of the U.S.'s main trading partners. There were also signs of a pickup in underlying imported inflation, which could cause domestic goods that use imported raw materials to rise in price as well. On Tuesday, the Labor Department said that import prices jumped 0.6 percent last month, the biggest gain since January, after a downward 0.1 dip in July.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/19/us-import-prices-post-biggest-gain-in-seven-months.html