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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
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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 September 19, 2018
The U.S. current account deficit fell to $101.5 billion during Q2 2018 from $121.7 billion in Q1. It was the smallest deficit since Q4 2015 and compared to $103.5 billion expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. As a percent of GDP, the deficit declined to 2.0% from 2.4%.
The smaller deficit last quarter was partly due to a shallower $203.2 billion shortfall on goods trade. Goods exports increased 4.3%, while goods imports held steady.
Additionally, the surplus on services trade increased to a record $69.3 billion. Services exports rose 1.5%. Telecommunications, computer & information services exports gained 2.5% (8.2% y/y). Exports of intellectual property rights rose 1.8% (6.1% y/y) while travel exports rose 0.6% (2.7% y/y). Services imports gained 0.4%. Charges for intellectual property declined 1.5% (-11.5% y/y) and travel imports increased 0.1% (6.2% y/y). Telecommunications, computer & information services imports rose 1.7% (5.5% y/y).
The surplus on primary income eased to $60.8 billion, but remained near the record high. The deficit on secondary income also slipped to $28.5, and remained narrower y/y.
From the capital account, the deficit on foreign direct investment shrank to $29.1 billion. This year's deficits compare to surpluses through most of the post-war period.
Balance of Payments data are in Haver's USINT database, with summaries available in USECON. The expectations figure is in the AS1REPNA database.
US Balance of Payments SA | Q2'18 | Q1'18 | Q4'17 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Current Account Balance ($ Billion) | -101.5 | -121.7 | -116.1 | -449.1 | -432.9 | -409.8 |
Deficit % of GDP | -2.0 | -2.4 | -2.3 | -2.3 | -2.3 | -2.2 |
Balance on Goods ($ Billion) | -203.2 | -220.8 | -212.4 | -807.5 | -751.1 | -761.9 |
Exports | 4.3% | 2.4% | 3.6% | 6.6% | -3.6% | -7.6% |
Imports | 0.0% | 2.9% | 5.1% | 6.9% | -2.9% | -4.7% |
Balance on Services ($ Billion) | 69.3 | 66.8 | 64.6 | 255.2 | 249.1 | 263.3 |
Exports | 1.5% | 1.0% | 1.3% | 5.1% | 0.5% | 1.9% |
Imports | 0.4% | -0.2% | 1.6% | 6.4% | 3.6% | 2.3% |
Balance on Primary Income ($ Billion) | 60.8 | 61.2 | 62.4 | 221.7 | 193.0 | 203.6 |
Balance on Secondary Income ($ Billion) | -28.5 | -28.9 | -30.7 | -118.6 | -123.9 | -112.8 |