Current-Account Deficit in U.S. Narrowed 1.8% in Fourth Quarter
This article is for subscribers only.
The current-account deficit in the U.S. unexpectedly narrowed in the fourth quarter, helped by a the biggest surplus on income in a year.
The gap, the broadest measure of international trade because it includes income payments and government transfers, shrank 1.8 percent to $110.4 billion from a revised $112.4 billion shortfall in the prior quarter, a Commerce Department report showed today in Washington. The median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey called for a $112.5 billion deficit in the final three months of 2012.