US trade deficit
The US trade deficit narrowed slightly in May after hitting a record high a month earlier due to a sharp drop in imports, according to government data released on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve paused interest rate hikes last month to give policymakers more time.
To assess upcoming US economic data, after raising them 10 times in a row to combat high inflation. But despite its aggressive moves, inflation remains well above the Fed’s long-term target of 2 percent, while the labor market remains tight.
Analysts, traders and Fed officials expect additional rate hikes in coming months will be necessary to suppress demand enough to bring inflation back up to target. The weak trend is likely to persist due to the impact of global monetary policy tightening, which is likely to slow down demand and the economy.
“Activity at home and abroad,” Rubella Farooqi, principal US economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note to clients. In May, the overall trade deficit narrowed to $69 billion from a revised $74.4 billion a month earlier, according to the Commerce Department.
The deficit is slightly higher than the average forecast of economists polled by Marketwatch. Exports fell slightly to $247.1 billion, while imports decreased by $7.5 billion to $316.1 billion.
Most of the decline in imports was caused by a decline in consumer goods, which fell by $4.8 billion. On a weather-adjusted basis, the US trade deficit with China widened to $24.9 billion in May, according to the Commerce Department. This was higher than April’s $24.2 billion.
Source link | Finance | What is a Forex God?
Be First to Comment