U.S. Trade Deficit Narrows Slightly While Canada Enjoys A Surplus

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Meanwhile, here are the major headlines from the last week:

• The U.S. monthly trade deficit decreased in February 2022 by less than $0.1 billion to $89.2 billion in February. Exports increased slightly more than imports. The goods deficit decreased $1.1 billion in February to $107.5 billion. The services surplus decreased $1.1 billion in February to $18.3 billion. Read the full report here.
• With energy exports leading the way, Canadian shipments rose to a record high in February. Total goods imports increased 3.9 percent to $56.1 billion while total exports of goods were up 2.8 percent to $58.7 billion, resulting in a surplus of $2.7 billion. Combined, the trade balance for goods and services amounted to a $2.3 billion surplus in February. Read more here.
• New orders for U.S. manufactured goods decreased 0.5 percent from January 2022 to February 2022 to $542 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. Shipments rose 0.6 percent to $541 billion. Unfilled orders increased 0.4 percent and the unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio was 6.74, up from 6.72 in January. Inventories rose 0.6 percent to $785.2 billion while the inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.45, unchanged from January. Read the full report here.
• According to Statistics Canada, the country’s unemployment rate fell to 5.3 percent in March, the lowest unemployment rate since the agency started tracking comparable data in 1976. Employers added 73,000 jobs last month, a 0.4 per cent rise from February’s level. The country also has 874,000 positions that are not filled.
• In the United States, meanwhile, at the end of March new weekly claims for unemployment insurance fell to the lowest level since 1968. For the week that ended April 2, 166,000 individuals filed for benefits for the first time, a decline of 5,000 from the previous week. The four-week moving average was 170,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week’s average.