The prices paid for imported goods increased 0.6% in March, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday. Economists had forecast a 0.2% advance. The rise in import prices in February was unchanged at 0.9%. Import prices in the first quarter rose by 1.9%, the biggest three-month gain since October 2012. Yet import prices are still 0.6% lower compared to a year earlier, so broad inflationary pressures remain contained despite the recent uptick. Excluding fuel, import prices rose by a smaller 0.3% last month. Food-import prices jumped 3.7% to mark the biggest increase in three years. Fuel import prices rose 1.2%. The price of U.S.-made goods exported to other nations, meanwhile, climbed 0.8% in March