The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis have reported an increase in the goods and services deficit for September 2024, reaching $84.4 billion. This marks a rise of $13.6 billion from August's revised figure of $70.8 billion.
Exports for September stood at $267.9 billion, showing a decrease of $3.2 billion compared to August, while imports increased by $10.3 billion to reach $352.3 billion.
The rise in the deficit was attributed to an increase in the goods deficit by $14.2 billion, totaling $109.0 billion, alongside a slight increase in the services surplus by $0.6 billion to $24.6 billion.
Year-to-date figures reveal that the goods and services deficit has risen by $69.6 billion or 11.8 percent compared to the same period last year, with exports increasing by 3.7 percent and imports by 5.3 percent.
For the three months ending in September, the average goods and services deficit rose by $3.8 billion to reach an average of $78.0 billion.
In terms of exports, there was a notable decrease in capital goods and consumer goods, including civilian aircraft and pharmaceutical preparations which fell significantly.
On the import side, consumer goods saw an increase of $4.0 billion with significant rises in pharmaceutical preparations and capital goods such as computers and semiconductors.
The real goods deficit also experienced growth, increasing by 13.1 percent to reach $100.1 billion in September when measured in 2017 dollars on a Census basis.
Revisions were made for August figures where exports of both goods and services were adjusted downwards slightly, while imports saw minor revisions as well.
Trade balances with specific countries showed varying results; deficits increased with regions like China and the European Union while surpluses were recorded with countries such as South and Central America and Hong Kong.
For further information or inquiries regarding these statistics, contact can be made with BEA's Balance of Payments Division via email at InternationalAccounts@bea.gov.