U.S. Current Account Deficit falls in fourth quarter. Empire State Manufacturing drops to record low in March.

March 17, 2008 - Forex Economic News

The U.S. current account deficit declined in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to the third quarter and beat market expectations in a news release by the Commerce Department today. The fourth quarter deficit fell to $172.9 billion from a revised $177.4 billion in the third quarter and accounted for a 4.9 percent share of the GDP. Market economists had forecasted a deficit of $184.4 billion for the October through December time period. Increases in the surpluses on income and on services helped to shorten the deficit. The account deficit for the entire year of 2007 registered $738.6 billion which was down from 2006's deficit of $811.5 billion. View the report here.

New York manufacturing activity continued to fall in March according to data released today by the New York Federal Reserve. The Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed that the general business index in New York dropped by about 10.5 points from February to March to a -22.2 score. The -22.2 index score is the lowest all time score for the index surpassing the previous low set in November of 2001. The new orders index gained this month by 7 points but was still a negative score at -4.7, the shipments index also increased to -5.2 and the unfilled orders index bumped up a bit to 1.1. Future outlook index levels showed some promise going forward as the future general business index, future new orders and future shipments indexes all showed increased levels compared to last month. The Empire State Manufacturing Survey is a monthly business assessment of New York State manufacturers produced by the New York Federal Reserve.

Tags: us current account, account deficit, empire state manufacturing, ny business, ny fed

Blog Home