The U.S. Labor Department released its import and export prices data on Friday. The U.S. import price index dropped by 2.8 percent in January, beating expectations for a 3.1% fall, after a 1.9% decline in December. That was the biggest drop since December 2008.

December's figure was revised up from a 2.5% decrease.

The decline was driven by falling fuel prices.

U.S. export prices plunged by 2.0% in January, after a 1.0% decrease in December.

For 2014 as a whole, import prices dropped by 8.0%.