The U.S. current account deficit widened to $124.8 billion in the third quarter from a revised $101.2 billion gap in the previous quarter, data released Wednesday by the Commerce Department showed.
The goods and services gap was the primary driver of the larger current account gap, widening to $158.7 billion in the third quarter from $134.6 billion in the second quarter. The goods balance widened to $227.0 billion from $203.0 billion, while the services surplus slipped to $68.4 billion from $68.5 billion.
The primary income surplus narrowed to $59.4 billion in the third quarter from $62.3 billion in the previous quarter, while the secondary income deficit narrowed to $25.6 billion from $29.9 billion in the second quarter.
Gary Siegel
Gary Siegel has been at The Bond Buyer since 1989, currently covering economic indicators and the Federal Reserve system.