Canada’s Trade Surplus Expands And U.S. Runs Bigger Trade Gap

Connecting the Dots keeps an eye on all major economic announcements in the United States and Canada, but MSCI also offers several data products that provide much deeper analysis and insight. Visit our website and click on Industry Data to learn more about our Metals Activity Report, Momentum Monitors, and COVID-19 Recovery Tracker.

Here are the major headlines from the last week:

• The U.S. trade deficit grew from $70.3 billion in July to a record $73.3 billion in August. The increase was due largely to increased U.S. consumer demand for foreign pharmaceutical products, toys, clothing, and other goods, and business demand for industrial supplies. Overall, imports were up by 1.4 percent to a record-high of $287 billion. Exports grew by just 0.5 percent. Read the full report here.
• Canada’s trade surplus with the rest of the world expanded significantly in August, due largely to higher energy exports. Specifically, the country’s merchandise trade surplus was C$1.94 billion ($1.5 billion), up from C$736 million surplus in July. Economists had been expecting a surplus of just C$430 million. Exports were up 0.8 percent and imports fell 1.4 percent. Read the full report here.
• New orders for manufactured goods in the United States rose 1.2 percent from July 2021 to August 2021 while shipments were up just 0.1 percent. Unfilled orders increased one percent and the unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio was 6.86, up from 6.81 in July. Inventories rose 0.6 percent and the inventories-to-shipments ratio was unchanged from July at 1.47.
• According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the nation’s economy added 194,000 jobs in September while the overall U.S. unemployment rate dropped from 5.2 percent to 4.8 percent. Manufacturers added 26,000 jobs last month. In related news: The number of Americans submitting new applications for jobless benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 326,000, down from 364,000 the week before.
• Employment in Canada is back to its pre-pandemic levels. Statistics Canada announced last week that the country added 157,000 jobs in September and the country’s jobless rate fell to 6.9 percent from 7.1 percent in August. Read the full report here.
• U.S. new vehicle sales fell nearly 26 percent in September as chip shortages and other parts-supply disrupted production.