U.S. Current-Account Deficit Widened in First Quarter
June 20 2018 - 8:00AM
Dow Jones News
By Ben Leubsdorf and Eric Morath
WASHINGTON--The current-account deficit, a measure of U.S. trade
and financial flows with the rest of the world, widened to $124.105
billion in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said
Wednesday.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected a $130.0
billion deficit in the first three months of 2018. The fourth
quarter saw a downwardly revised deficit of $116.15 billion.
As a share of the economy, the current-account deficit was 2.5%
of current-dollar gross domestic product in the first quarter
versus 2.4% of GDP in the fourth quarter.
The current account is a broad measure of transactions with
foreign nations, including trade in goods and services as well as
financial investments and other money transfers such as
remittances. The U.S. has run trade deficits for decades.
In the first quarter, the trade deficit for goods increased,
with other transaction categories little changed from late 2017,
the agency said.
Wednesday's report included revisions going back several years
based on newly available data, and incorporated estimated effects
of last year's tax-code overhaul including a one-time repatriation
tax on accumulated foreign earnings. The government estimated $250
billion for the repatriation tax at a quarterly rate, recorded in
the fourth quarter; that estimate and other figures related to tax
effects will be updated with IRS data on a two-year lag.
The Commerce Department's latest report on U.S. international
transactions can be accessed at:
https://bea.gov/newsreleases/international/transactions/transnewsrelease.htm
Write to Ben Leubsdorf at ben.leubsdorf@wsj.com and Eric Morath
at eric.morath@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 20, 2018 08:45 ET (12:45 GMT)
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