Trade Deficit Increases Less Than Expected in October
The trade deficit was up in October, but not as much as expected, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
- The trade deficit was $78.2 billion in October, this is up 5.5% ($4.1B) from September’s $74.1 billion but is still down 28.8% from the March 2022 peak (109.8B).
- Economists projected a bigger jump to $80B.
Breaking It Down. The larger trade deficit in October was thanks to an $2.2B increase in imports and a $1.9B drop in exports.
Goods Vs Services. The goods deficit increased 6.5% to $99.6 billion while the services surplus reported a big 10.9% increase to $21.4 billion in October.
- Good exports fell $3.7B thanks to a $2.4 billion drop in industrial supplies and materials while the imports of goods increased $2.4 billion thanks to pharmaceutical preparations increasing $2.7 billion.
- Service exports increased 2.3% to $80.6 billion thanks to $800M increase in travel while service imports fell 0.3% to $59.2 billion thanks to $500M decrease in transport.
