Washington, Jumada II 27, 1439, Mar 15, 2018, SPA-- U.S. import prices continued to rise in February amid weakness in the U.S. dollar, the government reported Thursday, supporting expectations that inflation will accelerate this year. The Labor Department said import prices increased 0.4 percent last month after surging 0.8 percent in January. The increase lifted the year-over-year gain in import prices to 3.5 percent. Prices for imported capital goods climbed 0.6 percent in February, the biggest increase in nearly a decade. Prices for imported consumer goods excluding automobiles rose 0.5 percent, the biggest advance in more than four years. The price increases likely reflected the dollar’s depreciation against the currencies of the United States’ main trading partners. Imported petroleum prices fell 0.5 percent last month, the first drop since last September, after jumping 3 percent in January. Import prices excluding petroleum increased 0.5 percent after a similar gain in January. --SPA 18:32 LOCAL TIME 15:32 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w642810