The U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, also known as the FT-900, is published monthly by the Bureau of Economic Analysis with data going back to 1992. The monthly reports include revisions that go back several months. This report details U.S. exports and imports of goods and services.
Here is an excerpt from the latest report:
The U.S. monthly international trade deficit increased in December 2019 according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau. The deficit increased from $43.7 billion in November (revised) to $48.9 billion in December, as imports increased more than exports. The previously published November deficit was $43.1 billion. The goods deficit increased $5.1 billion in December to $69.7 billion. The services surplus decreased $0.1 billion in December to $20.8 billion.
In addition to revisions to source data for the November statistics, the seasonally adjusted goods data were revised for January through November so that the totals of the seasonally adjusted months equal the annual totals. Current Release
Today's headline number of -48.9B was lower than the Investing.com forecast of -43.2B.
Here is a snapshot that gives a better sense of the extreme volatility of this indicator.
We will publish the next Trade Balance report on March 6.
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