"A widening of the balance just tells you about the relative growth rate of the U.S. compared with other economies"
- Jeremy Lawson, a senior U.S. economist at BNP Paribas
Import prices rose in February led by higher petroleum costs, while food prices posted their largest decrease in three years. Overall import prices advanced 0.4 per cent.
"Once you look past the rise in oil, import prices are pretty tame on the back of the dollar strength we've been seeing recently," Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc. in New York, said before the report.
"This points toward pretty well controlled non-energy costs."
In a separate report the Bureau of Economic Analysis said the current-account deficit widened more than expected in the fourth quarter to 124.1 billion dollars, the biggest in three years.
"A widening of the balance just tells you about the relative growth rate of the U.S. compared with other economies," said Jeremy Lawson, a senior U.S. economist at BNP Paribas in New York.
"There's a fairly good chance that the deficit will widen again because imports are on track to outpace exports."
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