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US Trade Deficit Narrowed as Expected in May

12 July 2012 08:22 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA-Economics. The US trade deficit was $48.7 billion in May 2012, which was in line with the expected $48.6 billion shortfall, although April’s gap was revised upward slightly to $50.6 billion from $50.1 billion. The narrowing in the trade deficit in the month reflected a $0.4 billion (0.2%) increase in exports combined with a $1.6 billion (0.7%) decline in imports.

The increase in exports in May partially reversed the previous month’s 0.9% decline that had brought the value of nominal exports down from the record-high level seen in March. The headline increase in May reflected gains in exports of food ($0.9 billion) and capital goods ($0.7 billion), while declines in industrial supplies and materials (-$0.8 billion), consumer goods (-$0.2 billion), and automotive vehicles and parts (-$0.1 billion) provided a partial offset. With regard to imports, weakness in the month were concentrated in the industrial supplies and materials component (-$3.6 billion), although increases in imports of capital goods ($1.4 billion), and automotive vehicles and parts ($0.7 billion) provided some offset. Imports of petroleum products plunged 8.4% as the average price for a barrel of oil declined to $107.91 from $109.94 in April. The volume of petroleum imports fell 3.9% in the month.

Excluding the effect of prices, the real trade balance (in chained 2005 dollars, census basis) narrowed to -$48.0 billion from -$48.7 billion in April. This result reflected a 0.3% increase in the volume of exports combined with a 0.8% decline in imports.