Briefing.com: Trade Balance

Updated: 06-Dec-22 09:28 ET

October Trade Balance

Updated: 06-Dec-22 09:28 ET

Highlights

The trade deficit widened in October to $78.2 billion (Briefing.com consensus -$77.2 billion) from a downwardly revised $74.1 billion (from -$73.3 billion) in September.
Exports were $1.9 billion less than September exports and imports were $2.2 billion more than September imports.

Key Factors

Imports of industrial supplies and materials increased $1.1 billion.
Imports of automotive vehicles, parts, and engines increased $0.7 billion.
Imports of consumer goods decreased $0.6 billion.
Exports of industrial supplies and materials decreased by $2.4 billion with natural gas exports decreasing $1.4 billion.
Exports of consumer goods decreased $2.0 billion, driven by a $2.2 billion decrease in pharmaceutical preparations.
The real goods deficit widened to $103.1 billion from $100.97 billion in September. That was 2.2% higher than the Q2 average.

Big Picture

The key takeaway from the report is that the pickup in imports speaks to a relatively strong U.S. economy in October versus other economies.