Global Trade Continues to Bounce Back to the Old Norm

The LA Times details:

The U.S. trade deficit widened by an unexpectedly large margin in December as American exports continued to grow but imports rose at an even faster pace, largely because of a sharp increase in petroleum purchases, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

It was the third straight month of rising trade deficits -- and the surprisingly big jump in December, to $40.2 billion from $36.4 billion in November, suggested that U.S. economic growth in the fourth quarter, initially estimated at 5.7%, could be revised down slightly, said Paul Dales, an economist at Capital Economics.

Another reason for a downward GDP revision... shocking. Back to the article...

The continued pick-up in trading activity, including the rise in volatile oil imports, reflects the rebound in the global economy and greater production demand in the United States.

And more broadly, a continued reversal of the absolute collapse witnessed in the Fall of 2008.



Source: Census