This, not surprising, report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis:
The U.S. current-account deficit--the combined balances on trade in goods and services, income, and net unilateral current transfers--increased to $166.2 billion in the second quarter of 2004 (preliminary) from $147.2 billion (revised) in the first quarter. The increase was more than accounted for by an increase in the deficit on goods and a decrease in the surplus on income. The surplus on services increased, and net outflows for unilateral current transfers decreased.
Because it is the political season, I thought this snippet from the AP/Detroit Free Press article mentioned in the previous post was kind of interesting:
With Election Day less than two months away, President Bush and his Democratic rival, John Kerry, spar frequently about the economy, trade and the availability of jobs.
Bush says the best way to handle yawning trade deficits is to get other countries to remove trade barriers and open markets to U.S. companies. Kerry points to the deficits as evidence the president's free-trade policies aren't working and have contributed to job losses.