Wall Street investors got three economic reports on Friday that highlighted continued stress in both the business and consumer sectors of the economy.

Import Prices

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said import prices fell for the third month in a row in October, primarily caused by the rapid decrease in the price in oil.

According to the BLS, the prices of imported goods fell by 4.7% in October from a month ago. They are up 6.7% from a year before. Petroleum imports fell by 16.7% from the month prior.

Food and beverage imports declined 1.6% from the month before, but remain up 9.4% from the year prior.

Lower prices for imports -- which represent 15% of the goods bought in the U.S. -- usually means lower prices for consumers and businesses alike.

However, lower import prices mean domestic businesses have to lower the price of their goods to compete with their foreign counterparts, which can be tough in a economic downturn.

Consumer Sentiment

The preliminary November reading on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan came in at a slight improvement from the dismal October data.

According to the University of Michigan, November consumer sentiment index rose to a reading of 61.4, up from October’s reading of 58.4.

While it did improve, October’s consumer confidence plummeted basically in tandem with the stock market. The 58.4 reading in October was the worst reading since the University of Michigan began taking readings in 1978. The reading on consumer sentiment has dropped almost 24% in the last year.

FOX Business Senior Economist Mark Lieberman said while consumer sentiment did improve slightly in November, “the bottom line is consumer sentiment remains recessionary.”

Business Inventories

U.S. business inventories fell by the most in three years in September, the U.S. government said, as businesses decided not to stock up on goods in preparation of sluggish consumer spending.

The Commerce Department said inventories decreased by 0.2% in September to a seasonally-adjusted level of $1.507 trillion. Economists interviewed by Thomson Reuters expected business inventories to fall by 0.1%.

August inventories were revised downward by 0.1 percentage point, to a 0.2% growth rate during that month.

The inventory-to-sales ratio, which indicates how quickly businesses are selling their inventories, rose from 1.27 to 1.29 in August as more businesses had trouble selling their goods.