WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – An early look at U.S. trade patterns in January points to another increase in the nation’s trade deficit that is likely to act as a drag on first-quarter gross domestic product. The trade gap in goods – services are excluded – rose 3% to $74.4 billion last month, the government said Tuesday. The government will release overall trade numbers for January next week, but the size of the deficit is tied to changes in exports and imports of goods. Trade patterns involving services rarely change much from month to month. Advanced reports for retail and wholesale inventories, meanwhile, both increased in January. Retail inventories jumped 0.8% and wholesale inventories climbed 0.7%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News