US trade deficit hits record high in November

The US trade deficit in goods rose to a record high in November as imports rose and exports declined.

The Commerce Department reported that the goods trade deficit widened last month by 17.5% to about $97.8 billion from $83.2 billion in October.

This exceeds the previous record gap set in September of $97 billion.

Merchandise exports decreased 2.1% from the previous month, while imports increased 4.7%.

In its annual comparison, exports varied 22% to $154,600 million in November 2021.

While on the import front, the disparity ranged from 19% to 252.433 million in the same period.

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The report also showed that wholesale inventories rose 1.2% last month, while retail inventories increased 2%. Retail stocks, excluding autos, rose 1.3 percent.

The trade sector has been a drag on that country’s GDP growth for five consecutive quarters.

In the period from July to August 2021, the US economy grew at an annual rate of 2.3%, which is a decrease compared to the growth of 6.7% in the second quarter and 6.3% in the first; However, activity recovered in the last quarter of the year.

energy rises

German import prices posted their biggest jump in 48 years

The Federal Statistics Office said Thursday that prices of goods imported into Germany in November rose 24.7% compared to the same month a year ago.

The DW news portal reported that these figures represent the biggest jump in import prices that Germany has seen since the 1974 oil embargo sparked by conflict in the Middle East.

The rise beat analysts’ expectations of 22.3% on top of annual increases of 21.7% in October and 17.7% in September.

The monthly progress was 3%, which, while high, is lower than the 3.8% recorded in the September-October period.

The increase comes as the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on global trade and supply chains.

Imported capacity saw the largest increase of 160% over the previous year.

Import prices for natural gas nearly quadrupled, while crude oil and petroleum products doubled as well.

Electricity is up 360% compared to last year.