Trade Gap Narrows In August

In a positive for Friday's third-quarter GDP report, the nation's trade gap in goods narrowed sharply in September, to $56.1 billion vs a revised $59.2 billion in August. Exports in September rose a solid 0.9 percent led by the largest component, capital goods, which rose 3.8 percent in what is a positive indication for global business investment. Exports of consumer goods also rose, up 4.4 percent, with industrial supplies up 2.3 percent. Also helping the deficit is a 1.1 percent decline in imports where most components fell with the exceptions of autos, up 4.3 percent, and other goods, up 0.8 percent. In a negative indication of retail expectations for the holidays, imports of consumer goods fell 1.8 percent following a 0.6 percent decline in August. And in a negative indication for domestic business investment, imports of capital goods fell 3.6 percent. Also released this morning are advance data on September inventories in the wholesale and retail sectors, up 0.2 percent for the former and up 0.3 percent for the latter.

Recent History Of This Indicator:
The nation's trade deficit in goods totaled $60.3 billion in August (revised from $58.4 billion) and forecasters see little change in September with the consensus at $60.5 billion. Goods exports rose a solid 1.0 percent in the prior report led by industrial supplies, vehicles, and also consumer goods. Imports also rose but in perhaps a sign of weakness in business confidence, imports of consumer goods declined for a second month.