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Economy in Brief
PMIs Stabilize or Creep Higher After Drop-Off
In the EMU, both the services and manufacturing sectors took a substantial step down one month ago...
FIBER: Industrial Commodity Prices Strengthen Selectively
The FIBER Industrial Materials Price Index increased 0.4% during the last four weeks...
German PPI Accelerates
The German year-on-year PPI has generally been decelerating since early 2017...
U.S. Leading Economic Indicators Signal Continued Expansion
The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators increased 0.3% during March...
Philadelphia Fed Factory Conditions Improve; Prices Jump
The Philadelphia Fed reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index rose to 23.2 during April...
by Tom Moeller December 18, 2012
The U.S. current account deficit lessened last quarter to $107.5B from $118.1B in Q2. The easing left the deficit to GDP ratio at 2.7%, its least in roughly three years. Total exports gained 0.2% (1.7% y/y) although goods exports slipped 0.2% (+2.9% y/y). Total imports fell 1.3% (+1.2y/y) paced by a 2.2% (+0.8% y/y) drop in merchandise imports. Services exports rose 1.0% (2.5% y/y) as travel exports gained 0.9% (7.9% y/y). Imports of services advanced a lesser 0.4% (0.3% y/y). Travel imports grew 0.7% (4.2% y/y).
From the capital account, $34.2B was withdrawn by foreigners on direct investment in the U.S. versus $101.4B in payments to the U.S. on direct investment abroad.
Balance of Payments data are in Haver's USINT database, with summaries available in USECON. The expectations figure is in the AS1REPNA database.
| US Balance of Payments SA | Q3'12 | Q2'12 | Q1'12 | Year Ago | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Account Balance ($ Bil.) | -107.5 | -118.1 | -133.6 | -108.2 | -465.9 | -442.0 | -382.0 |
| Deficit % of GDP | 2.7% | 3.0% | 3.5% | 3.2% | 3.1% | 3.1% | 2.7% |
| Balance on Goods ($Bil.) | -173.9 | -185.7 | -194.3 | -180.6 | -738.4 | -645.1 | -505.8 |
| Exports | -0.2% | 1.4% | 1.7% | 2.9% | 16.2% | 20.5% | -18.2% |
| Imports | -2.2% | -0.5% | 2.0% | 0.8% | 15.6% | 22.8% | -26.3% |
| Balance on Services ($Bil.) | 49.4 | 48.3 | 45.9 | 45.6 | 178.5 | 150.4 | 126.6 |
| Exports | 1.0% | 1.3% | 3.0% | 2.5% | 9.5% | 8.7% | -4.9% |
| Imports | 0.4% | -0.3% | 1.4% | 0.3% | 6.0% | 5.4% | -5.2% |
| Unilateral Transfers ($Bil.) | -33.8 | -32.7 | -32.7 | -31.8 | -133.1 | -131.1 | -122.5 |
