April 12 (Bloomberg) -- Prices of goods imported into the U.S. rose last month by the most since May 2006, led by a surge in the costs of crude oil and natural gas.

The 1.7 percent increase in the import price index was more than twice economists' forecasts and followed a 0.1 percent gain in February, the Labor Department's figures showed. Prices excluding petroleum rose 0.3 percent.

Rising prices for energy and other imported goods ``likely would boost'' broader measures of inflation, Federal Reserve officials said at last month's policy meeting. Officials also said it might ``prove necessary'' to raise interest rates, according to minutes of the meeting.

``It's a pretty inflation-unfriendly piece of data,'' said Ethan Harris, chief U.S. economist at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in New York. The recent gain in energy costs ``is one of a number factors that has made the Fed more nervous about inflation.''

A separate report showed an increase in the number of Americans filing for first-time jobless benefits. The 19,000 rise last week brought claims to 342,000, the highest in almost two months, the Labor Department said. A Labor spokesman said that holidays such as Easter make it difficult to adjust the data for season variations.

Economists' Forecasts

Economists had forecast import prices to rise 0.8 percent, after a previously reported 0.2 percent increase the prior month, according to the median projection in a Bloomberg News survey.

Imports account for about 17 percent of all goods and services purchased in the U.S.

The import-price index is the first of three monthly price gauges from the Labor Department. The government is scheduled to release its measure of producer prices tomorrow and the consumer price index on April 17.

``The recent increases in prices for energy and some non- energy imports likely would boost overall inflation in the near term and might put upward pressure on prices of some core goods and services,'' Fed policy makers said at their March 20-21 meeting, released yesterday.

The Fed minutes said most participants at the policy meeting in March continued to expect inflation excluding food and energy to slow gradually, even as they acknowledged recent inflation and productivity data ``increased the odds that inflation would fail to moderate as expected.''

Federal Reserve

The Fed, which kept interest rates unchanged at the last six meetings, has been counting on a slowing economy and declines in energy prices to limit inflation.

Compared with a year earlier, prices of imported goods rose 2.8 percent. Excluding petroleum, prices rose 2.9 percent in the past 12 months.

The price of imported petroleum and petroleum products jumped 9 percent in March after gaining 0.6 percent the prior month. It rose 2.4 percent from the same time a year earlier.

The average price of a barrel of crude oil traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose to $62 on March 1 from $57.30 on Feb. 1. The Labor Department bases its import-price calculations on the first day of the month.

Higher Airfares

AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, and Delta Air Lines Inc. on March 22 raised fares $5 each way on most U.S. flights to compensate for higher jet-fuel prices. It's the fourth time this year that U.S. airlines have tried to impose a widespread fare boost. AMR and other U.S. carriers have said that first-quarter results were hurt by higher energy costs.

Imported natural gas prices rose 4.7 percent in March after a 4 percent gain in February. Excluding natural gas and other fuels, import prices rose 0.2 percent.

Weakness in the dollar has made imported goods more expensive. The dollar weakened 4 percent through March from a year earlier on a trade-weighted basis and has fallen about 18 percent since early 2002.

Today's report showed prices for imported consumer goods excluding autos rose 0.2 percent after being unchanged the prior month. Prices of imported automobiles, parts and engines rose 0.1 percent after rising 0.2 percent.

Asian automakers are offering incentives to grab market share from U.S. rivals. Toyota Motor Corp., after doubling U.S. sales of its Prius hybrid in March, is offering new discounts worth as much as $2,000 to counter dwindling tax credits and to meet rising sales targets. Toyota's U.S. dealers began providing incentives on option packages for the fuel-saving, gasoline- electric car, the company said in a statement April 4.

Prices for industrial supplies excluding petroleum increased 1.3 percent. The cost of imported capital goods fell 0.1 percent after falling 0.2 percent in February. Those prices rose 0.1 percent from a year earlier.

Prices of goods from China rose 0.2 percent in March. Prices of U.S. exports rose 0.7 percent in March after rising 0.7 percent. Prices of farm exports increased 2.1 percent, while those of non-farm exports rose 0.6 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Willis in Washington bwillis@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 12, 2007 09:09 EDT