US Current Account Deficit Widens in Q3

December 17, 2014 Share Print 0

The U.S. current account deficit unexpectedly rose in the third quarter as an increase in exports was offset by a rewidening of the secondary income shortfall.

The Commerce Department said on Wednesday the current account gap, which measures the flow of goods, services and investments into and out of the country, rose 1.9 percent to $100.3 billion from a revised $98.4 billion deficit in the second quarter.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the deficit narrowing to $97.5 billion from a previously reported $98.5 billion shortfall in the April-June quarter.

The current account deficit represented 2.3 percent of gross domestic product, unchanged from the second quarter.

The deficit had declined in recent quarters as the U.S. ramped up domestic energy production, which has reduced its petroleum import bill.

With crude oil prices at 5-1/2 year lows, the current account gap is expected to narrow in the coming quarters.

via Reuters

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Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse

Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.