U.S. import prices rise 0.4% in March

Are you turning to me for the number we are turning, let’s do it then up 0.4%, a tick above the consensus estimate, but that’s not the most important number. I’m going to give you that in just a second. Export prices falling 1.4%, the number that I’m most interested in, which is apropos the discussion we were having about retailers, how well the consumers doing, but also what’s happening with import prices and input costs to the for retailers is non petroleum. Import prices. Which actually were flat on the month, unchanged year over year, sorry, down unchanged year over year, yeah, and down 0.2%. So the issue is that at least when it comes to the importation of inflation, it’s not happening. The inflation we have appears to be here domestically. And what could be happening, what is most likely happening is the inflation is in the service sector and being driven I think especially by labor input costs. You had those rises, by the way, in minimum wages that could be showing up in some of the inflation that we’re seeing being passed along.