US current account deficit widens by less than expected in Q1
America's shortfall on foreign trade and income flows with non-residents widened by less than anticipated at the start of the year.
According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, the US current account deficit jumped by 11.8% quarter-on-quarter to reach $195.7bn.
Economists had penciled-in a deficit of $207.1bn.
Nevertheless, the first quarter's deficit was the equivalent of 3.6% of gross domestic product.
Commerce attributed the shortfall mainly to the faster economic growth in the US relative to the rest of the world, which pushed import demand higher still.
Looking ahead, Oxford Economics's Mahir Rasheed predicted that the current account balance would be little changed over the second quarter given that economic activity abroad was only just starting to gain some momentum.
For 2021 as a whole, he forecast that the current account deficit would come in at 3.5% of GDP, four tenths of a percentage point more than in 2020.