Import prices fell in June for the first time in a year as petroleum and food costs tumbled, according to a government report on Wednesday that suggested the commodity-driven spike in inflation was abating.

Overall import prices dropped 0.5 percent, breaking eight straight months of increases, the Labor Department said, after gaining 0.1 percent in May.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected prices to drop 0.6 percent last month. Import prices were up 13.6 percent in the 12 months through June.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)

Inflation