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Economy in Brief
U.S. Unemployment Claims Continue on an Uptrend
Initial claims for unemployment insurance filed in the week ended August 6 rose 14,000 to 262,000...
RICS Survey Points to More U.K. Housing Sector Weakness
The survey of housing market conditions in the U.K. continues to show strength in prices versus weakness...
U.S. CPI Unchanged in July with Drop in Energy Prices
Consumer prices were unchanged in July after an outsized 1.3% m/m jump in June...
U.S. Federal Government Budget Deficit Shrinks in July
The U.S. Treasury Department reported a federal budget deficit of $211.1 billion in July...
U.S. Mortgage Applications Rose Slightly in the Latest Week
Mortgage applications increased 0.2% (-62.9% y/y) from one week earlier...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller September 16, 2005
The US current account deficit improved last quarter but it was from a 1Q record that was revised deeper. The 2Q deficit of $195.7B amounted to 6.3% of GDP. Consensus expectations had been for greater improvement to $193.0B.
The deficit in merchandise trade deteriorated to $186.9B from an unrevised $186.3B in 1Q. Exports grew 4.5% (11.7% y/y) and imports rose 2.6% (12.7% y/y).
The surplus on services improved for the third consecutive quarter to $13.6B from a downwardly revised 1Q surplus. Exports of services grew 1.2% (10.3% y/y and imports rose 1.0% (9.7% y/y).
From the capital account, US foreign direct investment abroad fell to $33.6B from an upwardly revised 1Q and foreign direct investment in the US nearly halved q/q to $17.6B.
Unwinding the Current Account Deficit from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis can be found here.
US Int'l Balance of Payments | 2Q '05 | 1Q '05 | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Current Account Deficit | $195.7B | $198.7B | $166.6B | $668.1B | $519.7B | $475.2B |
Goods/Services/Income Deficit | $173.8B | $172.4B | $146.1B | $587.1B | $448.5B | $411.2B |
Exports | 4.2% | 2.1% | 14.4% | 14.9% | 6.8% | -3.7% |
Imports | 3.2% | 2.6% | 15.6% | 18.1% | 7.3% | 1.6% |
Unilateral Transfers Deficit | $21.9B | $26.3B | $20.5B | $80.9B | $71.2B | $64.0B |