by Calculated Risk on 7/02/2020 02:10:00 PM
Thursday, July 02, 2020
Trade Deficit increased to $54.6 Billion in May
From the Department of Commerce reported:
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that the goods and services deficit was $54.6 billion in May, up $4.8 billion from $49.8 billion in April, revised.
May exports were $144.5 billion, $6.6 billion less than April exports. May imports were $199.1 billion, $1.8 billion less than April imports.
emphasis added
Both exports and imports decreased in May.
Exports are down 32% compared to May 2019; imports are down 25% compared to May 2019.
Both imports and exports have decreased sharply due to COVID-19.
The second graph shows the U.S. trade deficit, with and without petroleum.
Note that the U.S. exported a slight net positive petroleum products in recent months.
Oil imports averaged $27.55 per barrel in May, down from $34.72 per barrel in April, and down from $62.60 in May 2019.
The trade deficit with China decreased to $27.0 billion in May, from $30.1 billion in May 2019.