Category: deficit

US Goods Trade Deficit Narrows; Inventories Increase Solidly

WASHINGTON—The U.S. trade deficit in goods narrowed in May as exports increased strongly, suggesting that trade could contribute to economic growth in the second quarter for the first time in nearly two years. The report from the Commerce Department on Tuesday also showed solid increases in wholesale and retail inventories. While those gains, combined with…


US Trade Deficit Narrows Sharply as Exports Hit Record High

WASHINGTON—The U.S. trade deficit narrowed by the most in 10 years in April as exports jumped to a record high, suggesting that trade could contribute to economic growth this quarter. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday that the trade deficit dropped 19.1 percent, the largest decline since December 2012, to $87.1 billion. Exports of goods…


Who’s the Biggest Spender of Them All?

Commentary Did you know that President Joe Biden is a fiscal hawk who is doing everything he can to reduce our $30 trillion debt and our $1 trillion to $2 trillion in annual borrowing? It must be true—because he says so. And if you believe any of this, you probably believe he’s “doing everything he…


‘Thank You for the Diatribe’: OMB Director Young Responds to House Question on Budget

Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young testified Tuesday about President Joe Biden’s proposed $5.8 trillion Fiscal Year 2023 Budget, which was released yesterday, more than a month after it was due on the first Monday of February. Young spoke before a hybrid hearing of the House Committee on the Budget, which is made…


Record US Trade Deficit, Slowing Wholesale Inventory Gains Seen Curbing Economic Growth

WASHINGTON—The U.S. trade deficit widened to a record high in January as businesses imported more goods to rebuild inventories, potentially setting up trade to remain a drag on economic growth in the first quarter. Though inventory accumulation continues, the pace is cooling, with other data from the Commerce Department on Tuesday showing the increase in…


Japan Logs Biggest Current Account Deficit Since 2014 as Oil Import Costs Surge

TOKYO—Japan recorded its largest current account deficit since the start of 2014 in January as a jump in oil import costs offset gains in investment income, with continuing uncertainty due to the Ukraine crisis and COVID-19 pandemic. The current account data highlighted the dependence of Japan’s resource-deficient economy on imports of commodities and raw materials,…


Ottawa’s ‘Imprudent’ Spending Caused $160 Billion in Debt Pre-COVID: Study

Debt incurred by the federal government was already at a record high before COVID-19 struck Canada, according to a new study, which argues that the escalating spending and deficits in the five years before 2020 has seriously exacerbated the country’s current fiscal challenges. “The COVID-19 pandemic has no doubt worsened Ottawa’s fiscal challenges, but it…


Japan’s Trade Deficit Jumps to 8-year High as Commodity Imports Soar

TOKYO—Japan ran its biggest trade deficit in a single month in eight years in January as high energy costs swelled imports and manufacturers struggled with global supply constraints, causing a decline in car shipments. The growing trade deficit highlights the world’s third-largest economy’s vulnerability to soaring commodity costs and slowing demand from its neighbor China…


California Finally Releases Its Latest Annual Financial Report

Commentary While most municipalities in California are wrapping up their annual financial statement audits for the year ending June 30, 2021, the state just issued what’s known as its Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, (formerly known as the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report), for the preceding year ending June 30, 2020. It’s the last state in the…


Japan’s January Consumer Inflation Slows, Trade Deficit Biggest in 8 Years: Poll

TOKYO—Japan’s core consumer inflation likely slowed in January from the previous month, a Reuters poll showed, reinforcing expectations the country’s central bank will lag well behind other economies in raising interest rates. Separate data is also expected to show Japan likely ran the biggest trade deficit in eight years in January as persistent rises in…