US trade deficit continues narrowing trend

Summary
The U.S. trade deficit narrowed modestly in November, and at -$63.2 billion it's almost 1/5 smaller than it was a year ago. Trade flows may be bumpy month to month, but the narrowing trend is in place.
Larger drop in imports and expansion in services surplus cause narrowing in deficit
International trade flows were weak in November, but a larger drop in imports caused a modest narrowing in the U.S. trade deficit. Exports and imports both slipped by nearly 2% during the month, but the dollar decline was larger in terms of imports (-$6.1 billion) than exports (-$4.8 billion). This outturn caused the trade deficit to narrow modestly to -$63.2 from a downwardly revised -$64.5 previously (chart).
Author

Wells Fargo Research Team
Wells Fargo

















