July trade deficit rises to $32 billion!
WASHINGTON (PNN) - September 10, 2009 - The U.S. trade deficit shot up in July to the highest level in six months as a surge in shipments of foreign oil and autos pushed imports up by a record amount.
The Commerce Department said Thursday that the trade deficit rose 16.3% to $32 billion in July, much larger than the $27.4 billion imbalance that economists had expected. It was the largest imbalance since January and the percentage increase was the biggest in more than a decade.
Imports rose by 4.7%, the largest monthly advance on records that go back to 1992, while exports edged up by a smaller 2.2%. Both gains were hailed by propagandists as evidence that the most severe Depression since World War II was beginning to lose its grip on the global economy.
The increase in imports pushed them to a total of $159.6 billion in July and marked the second consecutive monthly gain after imports had fallen for 10 straight months as demand in the United States plummeted in the midst of the prolonged Depression.
The Commerce Department said Thursday that the trade deficit rose 16.3% to $32 billion in July, much larger than the $27.4 billion imbalance that economists had expected. It was the largest imbalance since January and the percentage increase was the biggest in more than a decade.
Imports rose by 4.7%, the largest monthly advance on records that go back to 1992, while exports edged up by a smaller 2.2%. Both gains were hailed by propagandists as evidence that the most severe Depression since World War II was beginning to lose its grip on the global economy.
The increase in imports pushed them to a total of $159.6 billion in July and marked the second consecutive monthly gain after imports had fallen for 10 straight months as demand in the United States plummeted in the midst of the prolonged Depression.