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June 04, 2020US TRADE BALANCE, APRIL 2020 During the COVID-19 pandemic, comparisons of year-to-date averages and sums do not show Nova Scotia’s rapidly-changing economic situation. The DailyStats will focus on year-over-year comparisons, comparing one month with the same month in the prior year. Where possible the DailyStats will make comparisons of seasonally adjusted data from the pre-COVID-19 period (January and February 2020) with the period during which COVID-19 measures were in place from March 2020 onwards.
In March 2020, US Goods and Services trade deficit increased by $7.1 billion to $49.4 billion. The goods trade deficit increased by $5.8 billion to $71.8 billion. The services trade surplus narrowed by $1.3 billion to $22.4 billion.
Monthly exports decreased by $38.9 billon to $151.3 billion. Goods exports decreased by $32.2 billion to $95.5 billion, while services exports decreased by $6.7 billion to $55.8 billion. Compared to April 2019, total monthly exports are down 27.7 per cent.
US imports were down $31.8 billion to $200.7 billion, reflecting a $26.4 billion decrease to $167.4 billion in goods imports, and a $5.4 billion decrease to $33.3 billion in services imports. Compared to April 2019, total monthly imports are down 22.4 per cent.
Compared to April 2019, the US trade deficit widened by $205 million, reflecting a $1.5 billion decrease in goods trade deficit and a $1.7 billion decrease in services trade surplus.
Source: US Census Bureau, US Bureau of Economic Analysis