The US trade deficit increased from an upwardly-revised $28.5 billion in March to $29.2 billion in April, topping the consensus forecast per Bloomberg of $28.5 billion.
The cause was simple – April exports fell $2.8 billion, while imports were down by $2.2 billion.
There’s not a whole lot to say about this report except that the decrease in both imports and exports reflected the weakness in both the US and global economies in April.
Industrial supplies and materials as well as capital goods accounted for the lion’s share of falling US sales overseas, which underscores worldwide weakness.
The average price of imported oil increased from $41.36 per barrel in March to $46.60 in the latest month, and that rise was reflected in a $1billion rise in the nation’s bill to import oil.
The tremendous drop in crude prices has significantly dented the US trade gap, but oil prices are on the rebound, and unless we see significant economic gains abroad without a corresponding improvement in the US economy – that’s very unlikely, the best news on the trade deficit may be behind us.
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