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The U.S. deficit in its foreign trade in goods and services rose 5.4% in October from the previous month to $78.2 billion, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported Tuesday.
This is the second consecutive month that this indicator has risen, after a fall in the previous five months, in a delicate global economic context, as a consequence of the war in Ukraine and the last throes of the pandemic.
In the tenth month of the year, imports recovered slightly and increased by 0.6% over September to 334.8 billion dollars, thus overcoming the downward trend due to the moderation of consumption, at a time of runaway inflation (7.7% year-on-year).
Meanwhile, exports fell again, down 0.7% to $256.6 billion, in a context where the dollar remains strong.
The deficit in October stood at $78.2 billion, $4.0 billion higher than in September when it stood at $74.1 billion (after a revision of the figure).
Averaged over the past three months, a measure used by economists to determine the trend, the average deficit in goods and services increased by 2.5 billion to 72.7 billion.
Average exports decreased by 1.4 billion to 258.9 billion in October, while average imports increased by 1.1 billion to 331.6 billion.
On a year-on-year basis, the deficit increased by 19.9%, a total of $136.9 billion, with exports up 19.8% to $415.3 billion and imports up 19.8% to $552.2 billion.
Exports of goods decreased by 3.7 billion to 176 billion in October, while exports of services increased by 1.8 billion to 80.6 billion.
In detail, there were decreases in the export of industrial supplies and materials (2.4 billion less) and consumer goods (2 billion less).
As for imports, imports of goods rose by 2.4 billion to 275.6 billion, while imports of services fell by 0.2 billion to 59.2 billion.
Imports of industrial supplies and materials (including crude oil and diesel) rose by 1.1 billion and automotive vehicles and parts by 700 million.
By region, the deficit with the European Union increased by 7.1 billion to 23.1 billion in October. Exports decreased by 1.2 billion to 28.8 billion and imports increased by 5.9 billion to 51.9 billion.
Meanwhile, the deficit with China decreased by 6.0 billion to 26.1 billion in October. Exports increased by 1.4 billion to 13.6 billion, and imports decreased by 4.6 billion to 39.7 billion.
