U.S. February trade gap narrows to lowest since 1999

[Barack_America]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit shrank by 28.3 percent in February to its smallest since November 1999 as imports tumbled and exports managed to grow slightly in the face of shrinking global demand, a U.S. government report showed on Thursday.

The monthly trade gap totalled $26 billion (17.7 billion pounds), down more than $10 billion from the revised $36.2 billion deficit in January and marking a record seven consecutive months of decline. The February percentage drop was the steepest since a 34.9 percent fall in October 1996.

Wall Street economists polled by Reuters before the report had forecast a February trade deficit of $36.4 billion.

U.S. exports of goods and services in February rose 1.6 percent from January, while imports fell 5.1 percent to their lowest level since September 2004.

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUKTRE53831920090409

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In related news...

Wal-Mart blames late Easter for slow sales

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wal-Mart Stores reported March sales Thursday that were much softer than analysts' forecasts, citing an "Easter calendar shift" that it expects to push holiday-related purchases into April.

Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), the world's largest retailer, said sales at its stores open at least a year, a key measure of performance known as same-store sales, rose 1.4% last month.

Analysts, on average, had expected the company to post an increase of 3.2% in March, according to sales tracker Thomson Reuters.

Although comparable store traffic increased in the month, the retailer said the average checkout total was lower, "mostly due to the Easter shift and, to a lesser degree, inflation at a lower rate than last year in grocery."

http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/09/news/economy/retail_sales/?postversion=2009040908

[Vidar]

1. Probably because no one can afford to buy anything.

[Barack_America]

2. Probably. But the rise in exports is encouraging, nonetheless...

And I guess there's always the possibility that some of this is due to more Americans rejecting imported goods.