Latest US trade deficit, PPI and consumer sentiment

The US trade deficit for July turned out lower than expected. At US$57.9 billion, it was lower than June's revised deficit of US$59.5 billion. Exports hit a record US$106.2 billion while imports, at US$164.2 billion, were actually lower than in June, a fall in non-oil imports more than offsetting a rise in oil imports.

Brad Setser, Calculated Risk (two posts) and General Glut analyse the data.

The producer price index rose 0.6 percent in August. Excluding food and energy, though, the index was flat.

Meanwhile, in news on post-Katrina data, ABC News and the Washington Post reported that their Consumer Comfort Index fell to -20 in the week ending September 11, the lowest level since June 2004, down from a revised -15 the prior week. In spite of this, sales in September to date were up 0.5 percent compared with the same span in August, while sales at major retailers rose by 3.4 percent on a year-over-year basis for the week ended September 10, according to Redbook Research.