Global| Jun 17 2011U.S. Current Account Deficit Deteriorates As Imports Rise
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Reported yesterday, the U.S. current account deficit rose in Q1 to $119.3B from a revised $112.2B in Q1 as the gain in imports beat exports. Consensus expectations were for $128.0B. The ratio to GDP was 3.2%, the same as for all of [...]
Reported yesterday, the
U.S. current account deficit rose in Q1 to $119.3B from a revised $112.2B
in Q1 as the gain in imports beat exports. Consensus expectations were for
$128.0B. The ratio to GDP was 3.2%, the same as for all of last year. The
overall deficit's increase occurred as the goods deficit in Q1 deepened to
$182.5B. The 8.3% q/q increase in imports, driven by higher oil prices,
outpaced the 5.5% rise in exports. The
surplus on services trade rose slightly to $41.7B in Q1. Exports and
imports of services rose by roughly equal amounts due to gains in
passenger fares. The balance on income
surged last quarter to a record $54.8B from $39.9B in Q4.
From the capital account, Q1 saw $507.1B paid to foreigners on investment in the U.S. which by far exceeded $325.2B in payments to the U.S. The imbalance largely reflects foreign ownership of U.S. financial assets. Payments on foreign direct investment in the U.S. fell sharply to $25.3B while payments on investment abroad increased to $86.5B.
Balance of Payments data are in Haver's USINT database, with summaries available in USECON. The expectations figure is in the AS1REPNA database.
| US Balance of Payments SA | Q1'11 | Q4'10 | Q3'10 | Year Ago | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Account Balance($ Bil.) | -119.3 | -112.2 | -120.1 | -118.3 | -470.9 | -376.6 | -677.1 |
| Deficit % of GDP | 3.2% | 3.0% | 3.3% | 3.3% | 3.2% | 2.7% | 4.7% |
| Balance on Goods ($ Bil.) | -182.5 | -159.2 | -167.8 | -140.1 | -645.9 | -505.9 | -830.1 |
| Exports | 5.5% | 5.3% | 3.0% | 18.6% | 20.5% | -18.2% | 12.3% |
| Imports | 8.3% | 1.7% | 2.4% | 18.9% | 22.8% | -26.3% | 7.8% |
| Balance on Services ($ Bil.) | 41.7 | 40.5 | 36.7 | 33.2 | 145.8 | 124.6 | 131.8 |
| Exports | 2.0% | 1.7% | 3.3% | 9.8% | 8.6% | -5.5% | 9.1% |
| Imports | 1.6% | -1.3% | 3.2% | 4.5% | 5.8% | -5.6% | 9.5% |
| Unilateral Transfers ($ Bil.) | -33.2 | -33.4 | -34.8 | -35.0 | -136.1 | -123.3 | -125.9 |
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
More Economy in Brief
