Friday, November 13, 2009

Trade Deficit Jumps in September

Bloomberg details:

The trade deficit in the U.S. widened in September by the most in a decade, reflecting rising demand for imported oil and automobiles as the economy rebounded from the worst recession since the 1930s.

The gap grew a larger-than-anticipated 18 percent to $36.5 billion, the highest level since January, from a revised $30.8 billion in August, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Imports surged by the most in 16 years, swamping a gain in exports.


As detailed above, a large component of that net trade deficit was autos. This isn't a huge surprise. When we took a look at September Auto sales, foreign cars performed much better on a relative basis.


So glass half full... The global economy is rebounding. Glass half empty... We (the global economy) are back to relying too much of an indebted US consumer (see Eurozone GDP).

Source: Census

2 comments:

  1. > The global economy is rebounding.

    Global spending (by governments) is rebounding.

    Never confuse government spending with the economy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Another way to think about it:

    If (government funded) jobs was a net gain (not net drain) on the economy, we'd all
    just work for the government and the problem would be solved already.

    Unfortunately, it is a net drain....we're
    just deferring the bill past the next
    election, like always.

    ReplyDelete