The prices paid for imported goods rose 0.9% in February, mainly because of higher fuel costs, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday. Economists had forecast a 0.4% increase. The rise in import prices in January was also revised up to show a 0.4% increase instead of 0.1% as originally reported. Yet excluding fuel, import prices fell by 0.2% last month, and over the past year import prices have fallen by 1.1% in a sign of slack inflationary pressure. The price of U.S.-made goods exported to other nations, meanwhile, rose 0.6% in February.