MW: U.S. trade deficit drops 11.6% in July to $39.5 billion
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. trade deficit slid almost 12% in July to $39.5 billion as a surge in soybean shipments pushed exports to a 10-month high.
Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected the trade gap to total $40 billion from a revised $44.7 billion in June.
The smaller deficit in the first month of the third quarter is a good sign for GDP. Gross domestic product, the official scorecard for the U.S. economy, gets a boost when the trade deficit declines.
U.S. exports rose 1.9% to $186.3 billion to mark the biggest advance in two and a half years, the Commerce Department said. Soybean exports tripled to $5.2 billion, largely accounting for the increase.
U.S. imports, on the other hand, fell 0.8% in July to a seasonally adjusted $225.8 billion, the government said Friday.
Imports fell even though the price of oil rose for the fifth straight month and hit the highest level per barrel since last September.
The trade deficit has been little changed for the past year. The average deficit in the three months from May to July was $42 billion
