The United States deficit in its foreign trade in goods and services rose 2.7% in February compared to January, reaching 70.5 billion dollars, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported on Wednesday.
In the second month of the year, the imports decreased 1.5%, while the exports they fell 2.7%, at a time when the effects that interest rate rises could have on the US economy are being closely watched.
This is the third consecutive month that this indicator has risen, after a 21% drop in November of last year, in a delicate global economic context and high inflation rates, which have led the Federal Reserve to implement a series of increases in interest rates, which seek to cool the economy.
In February, the imports they decreased by 5,000 million dollars with respect to January, to settle at 321,700 dollars.
Meanwhile, the exports they fell by 6.9 billion dollars, to 251,200 dollars.
The deficit stood at 70.5 billion dollars, 1.9 billion more than in January, when it stood at 68.7 billion, after a revision of the figure.
In the average of the last three months, a measure used by economists to determine the trend, the average deficit of goods and services increased by 3,300 million to 68,000 million dollars.
The exports average fell 300 million, to 252.700 million dollars, while the imports average fell 3,000 million, to 321,500 million.
In year-on-year terms, the deficit fell by 35.5 billion, with a rise in exports of 10.8%, up to 49,500 million dollars and a rise in imports from 2.2% to 14,000 million dollars.
The exports of goods fell 8.5 billion to 169.2 billion dollars in February, while the exports of services increased by 1,700 million, up to 82,000 million.
As for the importsthose of goods decreased by 5,800 million to 262,200 million, while those of services decreased by 800 million to 59,500 million.
By region, the deficit with the European Union stood at 18.1 billion dollars in February, while the deficit with China stood at 25.2 billion dollars.
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