U.S. Trade Deficit Narrowed in December, Totaled $502.25 Billion in 2016

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Dept. of Commerce, via The Wall Street Journal.

U.S. Trade Deficit Narrowed in December, Totaled $502.25 Billion in 2016

Gap at highest annual level since 2012

By Ben Leubsdorf

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Updated Feb. 7, 2017 9:50 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in December from the prior month and exceeded a half-trillion dollars for 2016 as a whole, a gap that President Donald Trump has said he wants to narrow as a path to boosting domestic economic growth.

The foreign-trade gap for goods and services decreased 3.2% from November to a seasonally adjusted $44.26 billion* in December, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a December deficit of $44.7 billion. ... Exports rose 2.7% from November, including increased sales of civilian airplanes and aircraft engines. Imports were up 1.5% in December, including a rise in car imports.

We expect the nominal trade deficit to continue to widen over the coming months, as the price of imported oil continues to rise, said Andrew Hunter, U.S. economist at Capital Economics, in a note to clients. However, with the drag from the dollars sharp appreciation in 2014 and 2015 now fading, and the survey evidence having improved markedly on the back of the recent pick-up in global demand, exports should continue to strengthen.

For all of 2016, the U.S. foreign-trade deficit was $502.25 billion, the highest annual level since 2012 and a 0.4% increase from 2015s deficit of $500.36 billion.

* http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/current_press_release/ft900.pdf

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-trade-deficit-narrowed-in-december-totaled-502-25-billion-in-2016-1486474624

[tenorly]

1. The deficit in goods, however, was $750 billion.

It's a slight improvement over the $800 billion deficit record reached in 2008; but it's still a real problem. Thank goodness for the almighty dollar.