by Calculated Risk on 9/10/2009 08:46:00 AM
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Trade Deficit Increases in July
The Census Bureau reports:
The ... total July exports of $127.6 billion and imports of $159.6 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $32.0 billion, up from $27.5 billion in June, revised.

The first graph shows the monthly U.S. exports and imports in dollars through July 2009.
Imports were up again in July, and exports also increased. On a year-over-year basis, exports are off 22% and imports are off 30%.
The second graph shows the U.S. trade deficit, with and without petroleum, through July.

Import oil prices increased to $62.48 in July - up about 50% from the prices in February (at $39.22) - and the fifth monthly increase in a row. Import oil prices will probably rise further in August.
It appears the cliff diving for U.S. trade might be over, although recent port data shows some weakness in traffic.