US import prices rise in February on fuel costs

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WASHINGTON, March 15 | Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:37am EDT

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - U.S. import prices rose for the fifth consecutive month in February as political turmoil in the Middle East helped pushed oil prices higher, a U.S. Labor Department report showed on Tuesday.

Import prices jumped 1.4 percent, significantly more than the consensus forecast of 0.9 percent in a Reuters poll of economists.

Fuel import prices accounted for most of increase, rising 4.0 percent compared to non-fuel prices which rose 0.3 percent.

(Reporting by Doug Palmer, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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