Higher capital goods prices lift US imported inflation in January

WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) – U.S. import prices increased in January as a decline in the cost of energy products was more than offset by a surge in capital goods prices, government data showed on Thursday.

Import prices rose 0.2% last month after an upwardly revised 0.2% gain in December, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast import prices, which exclude tariffs, climbing 0.2% after a previously reported 0.1% rise in December.

In the 12 months through January, import prices dipped 0.1% after being unchanged in December. The report was delayed by the shutdown of the government last year. The 43-day shutdown prevented the collection of survey data for October, resulting in the BLS not publishing the monthly changes in import prices for October and November.

BLS said the effects of the 2025 government shutdown would continue to delay publication the import prices data reports.

Imported fuel prices fell 2.2% in January after declining 1.1% in the prior month. Food prices rose 0.2%. Excluding fuels and food, import prices shot up 0.5%. The so-called core import prices increased 0.3% in December.

In the 12 months through January, core import prices advanced 1.6%, partly reflecting the dollar’s weakness against the currencies of the main U.S. trade partners.

The trade-weighted dollar declined 7.37% in 2025 and is down about 1.61% so far this year. Prices for imported capital goods prices increased 0.4%, mostly driven by a 0.5% jump in nonelectrical machinery.

Imported consumer goods excluding motor vehicles edged up 0.1%. Prices for motor vehicles, parts and engines gained 0.2%.

Import air passenger fares decreased 10.1% after increasing 6.4% as lower Asian and Latin American/Caribbean fares more than offset higher European fares. Airfares are among components that

go into the calculation of the Personal Consumption Expenditures price indexes, the inflation measures tracked by the U.S. central bank for its 2% target.

Though government data last month showed a marginal increase in consumer prices in January, producer inflation accelerated.

Prior to the import price data, economists estimated that the core PCE price index rose by as much as 0.5% in January, which would translate into a year-on-year increase of 3.1%.

Core PCE inflation increased 0.4% in December and advanced 3.0% year-on-year. The government will publish the delayed PCE inflation report for January next Friday.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani)