Trade Deficit Shrinks Handily in February
Courtesy Maersk LineThe U.S. trade balance, better known as the trade deficit, was reported as -$43.0 billion for the month of February 2012. This is down from the -$44.8 billion expected by Bloomberg and is also lower than the -$44.4…
The U.S. trade balance, better known as the trade deficit, was reported as -$43.0 billion for the month of February 2012. This is down from the -$44.8 billion expected by Bloomberg and is also lower than the -$44.4 billion reported in January. As a reminder, the jump in January was versus -$38.1 billion in December.
It appears that oil imports account for that big drop in the trade deficit. Oil imports appeared to be at a decade low and the higher exports of energy helped bridge the gap elsewhere.
Today’s report came from the Commerce Department, and there are two reasons that this does not move the needle much. Well, three reasons. First is that the numbers have a big lag as the data is two months old. Second is that trade deficits have persisted for what is now becoming most of our lifetimes. The last reason that today’s report will not matter very much is that the markets are glued to the super-weak payrolls data, as the payrolls grew by only about half of what economists were predicting.
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Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. www.247wallst.com.
