The Labor Department is weighing cuts to a program tracking import and export prices, in a cost-saving move that could alter major gauges of U.S. inflation and economic output, according to people familiar with the matter.

Economists and policy makers use the data to measure import inflation, trade flows and overall economic activity. The figures "are principal economic indicators," said one person briefed on the potential cuts. A decision to cut the data could be announced as early as this week, the person added....