U.S. import prices fell 0.3 percent in September, about in line with expectations, as a big drop in petroleum prices offset gains in food and other non-fuel goods, a U.S. Labor Department report showed on Wednesday.

The decline followed a 0.6 percent rise in August.

Analysts surveyed before the report had expected import prices to fall about 0.2 percent in September.

Petroleum and fuel import prices both fell 3.1 percent in September in their first month-to-month declines since June.