2Q Current Account Deficit Narrows to $98.8 Billion

The imbalance in the current account narrowed in the second quarter to $98.8 billion from a revised $104.5 billion in the first quarter, previously reported as a $101.5 billion deficit, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.

As a share of gross domestic product, the second-quarter figure was 2.8%, the smallest since the fourth quarter of 2001, when it was 2.9% of GDP.

But the narrowing of the current account deficit was less than expected. Thomson Reuters’ poll of economists predicted a $92 billion deficit for the second quarter.

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