Due to the government shutdown of October 1 through November 12, 2025, data collection was either not done or incomplete for October and November. As a result, there is not monthly percent changes for those two months. The gap makes it difficult to make meaningful comparisons. Overall, falling prices for fuels has softened the headline increase for imports but there are still pockets of higher prices, mostly for hard goods. Export prices are broadly higher, making US goods more costly to buy.

The BLS said that the import price index increased 0.4 percent from September to November. The index for imported fuels is down 2.5 percent for the two-month period. The index for import prices excluding fuels is up 0.6 percent for the same period.

The import price index is up 0.1 percent in November compared to a year ago, rising more quickly than the year-over-year increase of 1.4 percent in 2024. Imported fuel prices are down 6.6 percent compared to November 2024 and nonfuel import prices are up 0.7 percent.

The BLS did not provide month-over-month increases for the categories of foods, feeds, and beverages, nonfuel industrial supplies and materials, and finished goods. The index for imported foods, feeds, and beverages is down 2.0 percent compared to a year ago. Nonfuel industrial supplies and materials are up 4.6 percent year-over-year. Finished goods prices are up 1.5 percent for capital goods, down 1.4 percent for automotive imports, and down 0.3 percent for consumer goods excluding autos.

The index for imports of air passenger services is up 4.3 percent compared to November 2024 and imports of air freight is down 3.9 percent from a year ago.

The export price index is up 0.5 percent from September to November. Agricultural export prices are up 1.3 percent for the two-month period, The BLS did not provide a month-over-month change for exports of nonagricultural products.

The index for export prices is up 3.3 percent compared to November 2024. The index for agricultural exports is up 2.6 percent year-over-year and nonagricultural is up 4.9 percent compared to a year ago.

The index for exports of air passenger services is down 0.7 percent in November from a year earlier and is down 8.7 percent for air freight services from November 2024.

Modest rise of 0.1 percent expected for both imports and exports on the month.

* BLS will not produce an October 2025 Import and Export Price Indexes (MXPI) news release. BLS could not completely collect October 2025 reference period survey data due to a lapse in appropriations. BLS is unable to retroactively collect these data. For many indexes, BLS uses nonsurvey data sources instead of or in addition to survey data to make the index calculations. BLS is able to retroactively acquire most of the nonsurvey data for October. Where possible, BLS will publish October 2025 values for these series with the release of November 2025 data. BLS plans to publish October data with the November 2025 MXPI news release on January 15, 2026.

Import price indexes are compiled for the prices of goods that are bought in the United States but produced abroad and export price indexes are compiled for the prices of goods sold abroad but produced domestically. These prices, which exclude tariffs and taxes, measure underlying inflationary trends in internationally traded products.

Changes in import and export prices are a valuable gauge of inflation here and abroad. Furthermore, the data can directly impact the financial markets such as bonds and the dollar. The bond market is especially sensitive to the risk of importing inflation because it erodes the value of the principal (the original investment) which is paid back when the bond matures. It also decreases the value of the steady stream of interest rate payments on this type of security. Inflation leads to higher interest rates and that's bad news for stocks, as well. By monitoring inflation gauges such as import prices, investors can keep an eye on this menace to their portfolios.