WASHINGTON – The U.S. current account deficit widened for the third straight quarter to $116.8 billion in the first quarter from a revised $114.0 billion gap in the previous quarter, hitting its highest point since a $119.2 billion gap in the first quarter of 2016, data released Tuesday by the Commerce Department showed.
Annual revisions back to 1999 were included in the data.
The goods and services gap was the primary driver of the deterioration in the first quarter, widening to $139.0 billion in the first quarter from $134.0 billion in the fourth quarter.
The primary income surplus narrowed to $47.7 billion in the first quarter from $51.3 billion in the previous quarter, but this was more than offset by a narrowing in the secondary income deficit to $25.5 billion from $31.4 billion in the fourth quarter.
The current account rose to 2.5% of GDP in the first quarter from 2.4% in the previous quarter. Like the current account deficit, it stands at its highest point since 2.6% in the first quarter of 2016.
