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Economy in Brief
Italy Is Whacked by Corona-world
No country is battling harder than Italy whose economy is now starting to show some severe strains...
U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Soar to Record 3.3 Million
Initial jobless claims jumped to a record 3.283 million in the week ending March 21...
Kansas City Fed Factory Index Collapses
The Kansas City Fed reported that its reading of manufacturing business activity plunged to -17 in March...
U.S. GDP Growth Remains at 2.1% in Q4
U.S. GDP was unrevised in the fourth quarter of 2019 at 2.1% (SAAR) the same as in the advance estimate and the February report...
Advance U.S. Trade Deficit in Goods Shrinks in February
The advance estimate of the U.S. trade deficit in goods narrowed to $59.88 billion in February...
by Tom Moeller March 27, 2019
The U.S. current account deficit widened to $134.4 billion during Q4'18 from $126.6 billion in Q3. It remained the largest quarterly deficit since Q4 2008 and compared to $131.1 billion expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. As a percent of GDP, the deficit deepened to 2.6% from 2.5% in Q3, its largest deficit since Q2 2012.
The larger deficit last quarter was due to a record $233.0 billion shortfall on goods trade. Goods exports declined 0.9% (+3.5% y/y), while goods imports held steady (5.7% y/y).
The surplus on services trade eased to $66.1 billion from the record $67.5 billion in Q3. Services exports rose 1.0% after a 0.7% rise. Telecommunications, computer & information services exports gained 0.8% (3.3% y/y) after a 5.0% jump. Exports of intellectual property rights were little changed (-1.5% y/y) after declining in the prior two quarters while travel exports improved 1.1% (1.0% y/y). Services imports gained 2.5% (2.7% y/y) after a 1.9% rise. Charges for intellectual property eased 0.8% (-3.4% y/y) and travel imports strengthened 5.4% (7.6% y/y). Telecommunications, computer & information services imports held steady (-0.7% y/y).
The surplus on primary income was little changed at $60.4 billion, down versus the record high of $62.4 billion reached in Q4'17. The deficit on secondary income widened to $27.8 billion after narrowing since Q2'17.
Balance of Payments data are in Haver's USINT database, with summaries available in USECON. The expectations figure is in the AS1REPNA database.
| US Balance of Payments SA | Q4'18 | Q3'18 | Q2'18 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Account Balance ($ Billion) | -134.4 | -126.6 | -103.6 | -488.5 | -449.1 | -432.9 |
| Deficit % of GDP | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.3 |
| Balance on Goods ($ Billion) | -233.1 | -229.5 | -205.5 | -8913 | -807.5 | -751.1 |
| Exports | -0.9% | -1.8% | 4.4% | 7.7% | 6.6% | -3.6% |
| Imports | -0.0% | 2.6% | 0.0% | 8.6% | 6.9% | -2.9% |
| Balance on Services ($ Billion) | 66.1 | 67.5 | 68.7 | 269.2 | 255.2 | 249.1 |
| Exports | 1.0% | 0.7% | -0.1% | 3.9% | 5.1% | 0.5% |
| Imports | 2.5% | 1.9% | -1.3% | 3.1% | 6.4% | 3.6% |
| Balance on Primary Income ($ Billion) | 60.4 | 60.3 | 62.3 | 244.3 | 221.7 | 193.0 |
| Balance on Secondary Income ($ Billion) | -27.8 | -24.9 | -29.0 | -110.7 | -118.6 | -123.9 |
