Recent Updates
- US: Wholesale Trade (Feb), Producer Prices (Mar)
- US: Producer Price Indexes by Commodity Detail (Mar)
- US: Producer Price Indexes by Industry Detail (Mar)
- Canada: Investment in Building Construction (Feb), Labor Force Survey (Mar)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Wholesale Inventories Post Strong February Gain; Sales Fall
Wholesale inventories increased 0.6% (2.0% y/y) during February...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Unexpectedly Increase
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 744,000 during the week ended April 3...
Total PMIs Gain Traction in March
The PMI readings for March show improvement again...
U.S. Consumer Credit Outstanding Bounces Back in February
Consumer credit outstanding surged $27.6 billion during February...
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to Record during February
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $71.1 during February...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller September 18, 2020
• Current account deficit grows as exports & imports decline.
• Goods & services balances both deteriorate.
The U.S. current account deficit grew to $170.5 billion in Q2 2020 from $111.5 billion in Q1, revised from $104.2 billion. The Action Economics Forecast Survey anticipated a $159.0 billion deficit. As a percent of GDP, the deficit grew to 3.5%, it's deepest since Q4 2008.
The deficit in goods trade deteriorated to $219.3 billion as exports fell 28.4% (-29.7 y/y). All export categories realized significant declines led by a 58.9% drop (-61.6% y/y) in auto exports. Imports of goods also were off a sharp 14.6% (-20.0% y/y). Goods import declines were widespread with the largest being a 53.3% shortfall (-57.4% y/y) in auto imports.
Services exports declined 22.9% (-29.3% y/y) as travel exports weakened by two-thirds (-72.9% y/y). Export charges for the use of intellectual property fell 9.6% (-12.4% y/y. Imports of services weakened 25.9% (-31.5% y/y) reflecting an 89.7% drop (-92.6% y/y) in travel imports. Imports of charges for the use of intellectual property fell 12.8% (-6.6% y/y).
The surplus on primary income fell to $29.2 billion, the smallest since Q2 2009. Investment income receipts declined 18.4% (-27.3% y/y) while investment income payments weakened 11.7% (-21.0% y/y). The deficit on secondary income lessened slightly to $34.9 billion from its record $37.1 billion in Q1.
Balance of Payments data are in Haver's USINT database, with summaries available in USECON. The expectations figure is in the AS1REPNA database.
US Balance of Payments SA | Q2'20 | Q1'20 | Q4'19 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Current Account Balance ($ Billion) | -170.5 | -111.5 | -104.3 | -480.2 | -449.7 | -365.3 |
Deficit % of GDP | -3.5 | -2.1 | -1.9 | -2.2 | -2.2 | -1.9 |
Balance on Goods ($ Billion) | -219.3 | -191.7 | -202.5 | -864.3 | -880.3 | -799.3 |
Exports (% Chg) | -28.4 | -1.9 | 0.1 | -1.5 | 7.7 | 6.8 |
Imports (% Chg) | -14.6 | -3.0 | -2.9 | -1.6 | 8.5 | 6.8 |
Balance on Services ($ Billion) | 54.4 | 65.3 | 72.7 | 287.5 | 300.4 | 285.6 |
Exports (% Chg) | -22.9 | -8.6 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 3.9 | 6.4 |
Imports (% Chg) | -25.9 | -7.8 | 0.4 | 4.7 | 3.2 | 6.4 |
Balance on Primary Income ($ Billion) | 29.2 | 52.0 | 62.0 | 236.3 | 251.2 | 257.8 |
Balance on Secondary Income ($ Billion) | -34.9 | -37.1 | -36.5 | -139.7 | -120.9 | -109.3 |