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Thursday, July 12, 2007

May Trade Deficit: $60.0 Billion

by Calculated Risk on 7/12/2007 09:05:00 AM

The Census Bureau reported today for May 2007:

"in a goods and services deficit of $60.0 billion, compared with $58.7 billion in April"
Trade Deficit PetroleumClick on graph for larger image.

The red line is the trade deficit excluding petroleum products. (Blue is the total deficit, and black is the petroleum deficit).

The increase in the trade deficit was primarily due to oil imports, and mostly because of price increases.

Looking at the trade balance, excluding petroleum products, it appears the deficit peaked at about the same time as Mortgage Equity Withdrawal in the U.S. This is an interesting correlation (but not does imply causation). I had more on MEW vs. the trade deficit last month.