This article was originally written by Doug Short. From 2016-2022, it was improved upon and updated by Jill Mislinski. Starting in January 2023, AP Charts pages will be maintained by Jennifer Nash at Advisor Perspectives/VettaFi.
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 trade balance measures the difference in value between imported and exported goods and services.
Here is an excerpt from the latest report:
The U.S. monthly international trade deficit increased in January 2023 according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau. The deficit increased from $67.2 billion in December (revised) to $68.3 billion in January, as imports increased more than exports. The goods deficit decreased $0.6 billion in January to $90.1 billion. The services surplus decreased $1.7 billion in January to $21.8 billion.
The headline number of -$68.2B was better than the -68.9B Investing.com forecast, however it is the largest gap we have seen in the last 3 months.
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 April 5.
