The trade deficit was up in October, but not as much as expected, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
- The trade deficit was $78.2 billion in October, this is up 5.5% ($4.1B) from September’s $74.1 billion but is still down 28.8% from the March 2022 peak (109.8B).
- Economists projected a bigger jump to $80B.
Breaking It Down. The larger trade deficit in October was thanks to an $2.2B increase in imports and a $1.9B drop in exports.
Goods Vs Services. The goods deficit increased 6.5% to $99.6 billion while the services surplus reported a big 10.9% increase to $21.4 billion in October.
- Good exports fell $3.7B thanks to a $2.4 billion drop in industrial supplies and materials while the imports of goods increased $2.4 billion thanks to pharmaceutical preparations increasing $2.7 billion.
- Service exports increased 2.3% to $80.6 billion thanks to $800M increase in travel while service imports fell 0.3% to $59.2 billion thanks to $500M decrease in transport.