The current-account deficit in the U.S. widened in the first quarter, aided by a jump in imports.
The gap, the broadest measure of international trade because it includes income payments and government transfers, widened 3.7 percent to $106.1 billion, from a revised $102.3 billion shortfall in the prior quarter that was less than initially reported, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey called for the deficit to expand to $111.3 billion.
