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- Israel: Average Housing Prices (Q2)
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Economy in Brief
U.S. Housing Affordability Declines Further in June
The NAR Fixed Rate Mortgage Housing Affordability Index fell 3.6% in June...
EMU Output Makes Solid Gain in June
The European Monetary Union posted a 0.7% increase for industrial output in June...
U.S. Producer Prices Fall During July; Core Increase Weakens
The Producer Price Index for Final Demand fell 0.5% during July...
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...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller November 9, 2007
The September U.S. foreign trade deficit fell to $56.5B, the smallest since May 2005. The deficit for August was revised shallower from the initial report and the latest figure was a surprise to Consensus expectations for a deeper deficit of $58.5B.
The deficit averaged $58.6B during the first nine months of this year compared to an average of $64.6B during the first nine months of 2006.
U.S. exports jumped 1.1% after the small 0.7% rise in August which was revised up slightly.
Exports of goods recovered 1.3% (14.1% y/y) after just a 0.4% up tick in August. Exports of nonauto consumer goods led the gain with a 2.6% surge (18.4% y/y). Exports of foods, feeds & beverages also jumped 9.4% (42.4% y/y) after a 7.9% August surge.Exports of autos & products rose 0.7% (18.5% y/y). Exports of capital goods fell 1.0% ( +7.8% y/y), for the second consecutive month of decline, led by a 7.5% drop in exports of civilian aircraft (+8.1% y/y. Exports of advanced technology goods also fell by 1.5% (+3.9% y/y).
U.S. exports of services rose 0.7% (12.5% y/y) after an upwardly revised 1.4% August gain.
Overall imports rose 0.6% though imports of petroleum products fell 0.2% (+4.6% y/y) after a very much downwardly revised gain of 0.1% during August. Imports of nonauto consumer goods rose 0.5% (4.0% y/y) and capital goods imports jumped 2.0% (6.8% y/y). Imports of advanced technology products increased 0.4% (7.1% y/y).
The U.S. trade deficit in goods with China deteriorated m/m to $23.8B versus a deficit of $22.9B during September of '06. During the first nine months of this year the deficit with China averaged $20.8B versus $18.5B in 2006. Exports rose 16.6% and imports rose 13.5%.
International Trade: Why We Dont Have More of It from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia is available here.
Is the United States Losing Its Productivity Advantage? from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York can be found here.
Foreign Trade | September | August | Y/Y | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. Trade Deficit | $56.5B | $56.8B | $64.1B (9/06) |
$758.5 | $714.4B | $612.1B |
Exports - Goods & Services | 1.1% | 0.7% | 13.6% | 12.7% | 10.9% | 13.7% |
Imports - Goods & Services | 0.6% | -0.7% | 4.9% | 10.4% | 12.9% | 16.8% |