WASHINGTON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - U.S. import prices fell a steeper-than-expected 0.7 percent in July, the first drop in six months, largely on a decline in oil prices, the Labor Department said on Thursday.
Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a 0.4 percent drop in import prices after a 2.6 percent rise in June that was originally reported as a 3.2 percent gain.
Overall import prices posted the largest annual decline in the history of the index dating to 1982, tumbling 19.3 percent in the year ending in July.
Petroleum import prices fell 2.8 percent in July, the first drop since January. Despite a 66.6 percent jump in import petroleum prices between February and June, petroleum import prices fell 49.9 percent over the past year.
Nonpetroleum prices fell 7.3 percent over the past 12 months, the largest annual decrease since the index was first published in 1985. (Reporting by Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)