They climbed import prices of oil in the United States

Import prices of US oil rose in March for the first time in nine months as the cost of petroleum products has increased. The Labor Department said import prices Tuesday gained 0.2 percent last month after falling 0.4 percent revised downward in February. It was the first time since June that prices of imports rose and a further increase since May last year.

However the increase was lower than the expectations that economists had an increase of 1.0 percent. It was previously reported that import prices had declined 0.3 percent in February.

The prices of imported goods fell 6.2 percent in the 12 months through March, the smallest increase since December 2014, suggesting the import deflation was waning. Weak import prices has helped to keep inflation below the target of 2 percent of the Federal Reserve.

benign inflation has been a key factor in the policy of the US central bank to gradually raise interest rates when the labor market tightens.

Inflation, both in levels of consumption and production, has remained cheap oil and a stronger dollar. The dollar rose about 20 percent against major trading partners of the United States between June 2014 and December 2015.

Oil prices, however, are showing signs of stabilization.