Not that too many people were surprised with this piece of news. Reuters reports:
The huge U.S. current account deficit widened in the third quarter to a record $225.6 billion, as gushing oil prices and strong demand for Chinese and other foreign goods pushed imports higher, a U.S. Commerce Department report showed on Monday...
The U.S. deficit on income earned from investments increased to $3.8 billion in the third quarter, from $2.2 billion in the second, in what Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, called an "ominous sign of what happens when you run big deficits for long periods."
The other significant news yesterday provided another indication that the housing market could be stabilising.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market index fell 1 point to 32, but held above the 15-year low of 30 reached in September. Any reading below 50 means most builders view market conditions as poor.
Eurostat also reported trade data for the EU.
The first estimate for the euro area trade balance with the rest of the world in October 2006 gave a 2.4 bn euro surplus compared with +0.1 bn in October 2005. The September 2006 balance was +2.1 bn, compared with +1.1 bn in September 2005. In October 2006 compared with September 2006, exports, seasonally adjusted, remained stable, while imports rose by 0.6%.
The first estimate for October 2006 extra-EU25 trade was a deficit of 13.2 bn euro, compared with -11.0 bn in October 2005. In September 2006, the balance was also -13.2 bn, compared with -9.6 bn in September 2005. In October 2006 compared with September 2006, exports, seasonally adjusted, fell by 1.2% and imports by 0.4%.
Edward Hugh has been writing about European trade recently:
German Output and Exports
Europe's Trade Deficit With China
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