The BEA Wire | BEA's Official Blog

The U.S. goods and services trade deficit decreased from $78.9 billion in July (revised) to $70.4 billion in August, as exports increased and imports decreased. The goods deficit decreased $8.4 billion to $94.9 billion, and the services surplus increased $0.1 billion to $24.4 billion.

The U.S. net international investment position, the difference between U.S. residents’ foreign financial assets and liabilities, was –$22.52 trillion at the end of the second quarter of 2024, according to statistics released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The U.S. goods and services trade deficit increased from $73.0 billion in June (revised) to $78.8 billion in July, as imports increased more than exports. The goods deficit increased $5.6 billion to $103.1 billion, and the services surplus decreased $0.2 billion to $24.3 billion. 

Worldwide employment by U.S. multinational enterprises increased 2.2 percent to 44.3 million workers in 2022 from 43.3 million workers in 2021 (revised). 

The U.S. goods and services trade deficit decreased from $75.0 billion in May (revised) to $73.1 billion in June, as exports increased more than imports. The goods deficit decreased $2.5 billion to $97.4 billion, and the services surplus decreased $0.6 billion to $24.2 billion. 

The U.S. direct investment abroad position, or cumulative level of investment, increased $364.0 billion to $6.68 trillion at the end of 2023, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The U.S. goods and services trade deficit increased from $74.5 billion in April (revised) to $75.1 billion in May, as exports decreased more than imports. The goods deficit increased $0.9 billion to $100.2 billion, and the services surplus increased $0.3 billion to $25.1 billion.

The U.S. current-account deficit, which reflects the combined balances on trade in goods and services and income flows between U.S. residents and residents of other countries, widened by $15.9 billion, or 7.2 percent, to $237.6 billion in the first quarter of 2024.

U.S. firms in the finance and insurance sector led both U.S. exports and imports of services in 2022, according to a new Bureau of Economic Analysis article that presents a profile of companies that export and/or import services.

The U.S. goods and services trade deficit increased from $68.6 billion in March (revised) to $74.6 billion in April, as imports increased more than exports. The goods deficit increased $5.9 billion to $99.2 billion, and the services surplus decreased $0.1 billion to $24.7 billion. 

The U.S. goods and services trade deficit increased from $67.6 billion in January (revised) to $68.9 billion in February, as imports increased more than exports. The goods deficit decreased $0.3 billion to $91.4 billion, and the services surplus decreased $1.6 billion to $22.5 billion.

A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora

Trade—what Adam Smith described as our intrinsic "propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another"—has helped to make today's world. It is hard to say how long trade has been with us, but certainly since the beginning of recorded history, and likely much longer. One of my favorite examples is beer, which was a very popular beverage in ancient Mesopotamia. As far back as 3500 BCE, there is evidence of Sumerians in the city of Uruk bartering with beer. The Babylonians apparently continued this tradition and brewed many types of beer, grouping them into roughly 20 classifications, which were traded regularly with the Egyptians.