After falling sharply in January, the trade deficit declined a little further in February thanks to a jump in civilian aircraft exports and a subdued gain in imports. Neither of those are particularly compelling reasons to be upbeat about economic prospects this year, but the figures do at least confirm that net trade provided a substantial positive contribution to first-quarter GDP growth, which we now think was 2.0% annualised.
Subscriber content
Read this in full, free
Start a free trial and use one of your 10 free starter credits to unlock this piece.