U.S. Trade Deficit Rises In February, But Goods Deficit Shrinks

Connecting the Dots monitors all major economic announcements in the United States and Canada, but MSCI also offers industrial metals industry-specific data products that provide much deeper analysis and insight. Visit MSCI’s website and click on Industry Data to learn more about our Metals Activity Report (MAR), Momentum Monitors, and Economic Opportunity and Risk Tracker.

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

• The U.S. goods trade deficit pulled back from a record $107.57 billion in January to $106.59 billion in February. Goods exports rose from $155.26 billion to $157.16 billion, outpacing the increase in goods imports, which were up from $262.83 billion to $263.75 billion, an all-time high. Overall, the goods and services deficit was $89.7 billion in January, up $7.7 billion from $82 billion in December. Read the full report here.
• The U.S. economy grew 6.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021, up from the 2.3 percent gain in the third quarter. Real gross domestic product in the manufacturing sector rose by an annualized rate of 10.9 percent during the fourth quarter.
• According to Statistics Canada, real gross domestic product expanded 0.2 percent in January, up for the eighth month in a row. Goods-producing industries increased 0.8 percent while growth in services-producing industries was flat. Read the full report here.
• The United States added 431,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate fell to 3.6 percent, its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The proportion of working-age adults in the labor force rose to 60.1 percent. While the number of jobs added was slightly below analysts’ predictions, the U.S. Department of Labor also revised January and February job gains up by 95,000. Manufacturers added 38,000 jobs in March. Read the full report here. In related news: there were 3 million unfilled jobs in the United States in February (including 808,000 manufacturing jobs) and, during the week that ended March 26, 202,000 individuals filed for federal unemployment benefits  for the first time.
• S. manufacturing indicators were strong last month. The Institute for Supply Management’s purchasing managers’ index was at 57.1 percent, a decrease of 1.5 percentage points from the February, but at a level that indicates overall expansion. Read the full report here. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said the Texas manufacturing sector continued to expand at solid pace in March. The bank’s production index, a key measure of conditions, held mostly steady at 13.2, indicative of slightly above-average output growth.
• In other economic news: the U.S. personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, rose 6.4 percent in February compared to a year earlier for the biggest increase in 40 years; Canadian auto sales declined 20 percent between March 2021 and March 2022; and the Conference Board’s index of consumer confidence improved to 153.0 from 143.0 last month.