Here we introduce the monthly report, International Trade in Goods and Services, also known as the FT-900. Data is published monthly by the Bureau of Economic Analysis with revisions that go back several months, with data going back to 1992. This report details U.S. exports and imports of goods and services.
The Bretton Woods agreement, which established a stable foreign currency exchange system (as well as created the International Monetary Fund), collapsed in 1971 and as a result, currency values began to float freely and the US dollar was no longer tied to gold values. Since 1976, the United States has had an annual negative trade deficit.
Here is an excerpt from the report:
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that the goods and services deficit was $41.9 billion in May, up $1.2 billion from $40.7 billion in April, revised. May exports were $188.6 billion, $1.5 billion less than April exports. May imports were $230.5 billion, $0.3 billion less than April imports.
The May increase in the goods and services deficit reflected a increase in the goods deficit of $1.2 billion to $61.5 billion and an increase in the services surplus of less than $0.1 billion to $19.6 billion.
Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $1.1 billion, or 0.5 percent, from the same period in 2014. Exports decreased $26.5 billion or 2.7 percent. Imports decreased $25.4 billion or 2.2 percent.
This series tends to be extremely volatile, so we use a six-month moving average. Today's headline number of -41.87B was better than the Investing.com forecast of -42.60B.
Here is a snapshot that gives a better sense of the extreme volatility of this indicator.
