The latest United States economic figures were released Thursday and they may very well place a barrier in front of the economic recovery. In summary: the U.S. trade deficit widened, productivity fell and weekly jobless claims were up. But markets are being distracted by the recent European Central Bank-Greek move so they may not be impacted as much for the remainder of the week.
U.S. trade gap
In December, the U.S. trade gap widened immensely as American consumers purchased a greater number of goods from foreign companies and exports declined, according to a new report from the Department of Commerce.
The trade deficit jumped 17.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted $46.56 billion in December compared to the previous month. This is reportedly the largest dollar increase on record. Meanwhile, the November trade gap was modified upwards to $39.75 billion from the reported $39 billion.
Exports tumbled 0.8 percent from November to $194.88 billion, while imports rose 2.2 percent to $241.44 billion. For the entire 2014, exports soared 2.9 percent to $2.345 trillion and imports ascended 3.4 percent to $2.85 trillion. This means the U.S. trade deficit stands at $505.05 billion.
Weekly jobless claims up slightly
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits climbed 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 278,000 for the week ending Jan. 31, according to a report from the Department of Labor released Thursday.
Analysts say this suggests that the labor market is remaining steady because economists’ had projected an increase to 290,000. This means the gains have been relatively the same as claims reached their lowest level since Apr. 2000.
U.S. productivity tumbles in fourth-quarter
The productivity levels of non-farm American workers fell sharply in the fourth quarter of 2014 as employers increased hours by the most in 16 years, which means labor costs rose exponentially.
The Department of Labor confirmed Thursday productivity declined 1.8 percent after increasing 3.7 percent in the third quarter. This contradicts economists’ forecast of 0.5 percent jump.
Overall, productivity remained weak for most of 2014 as it only climbed 0.8 percent, which was pretty much the same compared to 2013’s 0.9 percent.
Unit labor costs rose 2.7 percent in the final quarter and 1.5 percent for the entire year. Hourly compensation also rose 0.9 percent in the fourth quarter.
