Trade Deficit Drops Notably in June

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently announced that exports in June 2012 increased to $185 billion from May’s total exports of $183.3 billion. Additionally, imports were down $3.5 billion from January which resulted in a notable decrease in the goods and services deficit of $42.9 billion, down from the May revised deficit of $48 billion.

The U.S. trade deficit has been continually dropping: in January 2012, the goods and services deficit was $52.5 billion. Goods continue to be the primary driver of the trade deficit, to the tune of $57.5 billion in June 2012 while services are now showing a surplus of $14.6 billion. Both factors are experiencing positive movement, however,  with the export of U.S. goods rising $1.8 billion between May and June to $132.8 billion, and imports of goods dropping $3.6 billion to $190.3 billion.

For the three months ending in June, the average trade deficit was $47.2 billion, down notably from just six months ago when, in the three months ending in January, the average trade deficit was $50.2.

Please click here for more details from SBEA.