Petroleum, Food Lift US Import Prices in February

Storage tanks are seen at Marathon Petroleum's Los Angeles Refinery, which processes domestic and imported crude oil into California Air Resources Board (CARB), gasoline, diesel fuel, and other petroleum products, in Carson, California, on March 11, 2022. Bing Guan/Reuters

WASHINGTON—U.S. import prices increased strongly in February, boosted by strong gains in petroleum and food costs, indicating that inflation would remain uncomfortably high for a while.

Import prices rose 1.4 percent last month after rebounding 1.9 percent in January, the Labor Department said on Wednesday. In the 12 months through February, prices accelerated 10.9 percent after increasing 10.7 percent in January. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast import prices, which exclude tariffs, increasing 1.5 percent.