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Strategies & Market Trends : rat's nest -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: AugustWest who wrote (183)	2/21/2001 9:01:36 AM
From: AugustWest	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 844

(COMTEX)U.S. trade deficit hits all-time high in 2000, consumer prices up in January WASHINGTON, Feb 21, 2001 (The Canadian Press via COMTEX) -- America's trade deficit with the rest of the world shot up to an all-time high of $369.7 billion US last year and consumer prices rose more than expected in January, two government reports said Wednesday. The Commerce Department said the trade deficit for all of 2000 was 39.5 per cent higher than the previous record-holder, a deficit of $265 billion in 1999. China overtook Japan as the country with the largest trade gap with the U.S. In another report, the Labor Department said consumer prices shot up 0.6 per cent in January, the biggest increase in 10 months, reflecting a record surge in natural gas prices. The January increase, which followed three straight monthly gains of a moderate 0.2 per cent, was double what private economists had been expecting. The higher trade deficit occurred even though the deficit for December narrowed a slight 0.4 per cent to $33 billion, the third straight monthly decline. The trade deficit has set an annual record for the past three years as the strong U.S. economy has been a magnet for imports while many of America's major export markets have been struggling to recover from currency crises in 1997 and 1998. The higher consumer prices last month reflected a 3.9 per cent jump in energy prices, the worst showing since September. Natural gas prices rose 17.4 per cent from last month - the largest one-month increase on record. Electricity prices were up 2.6 per cent from last month, the biggest one-month gain since February 1980. Outside the volatile food and energy categories, the "core" rate of inflation was up 0.3 per cent in January, the largest increase since November. The 0.6 per cent rise in the overall Consumer Price Index followed an even bigger 1.1 percent surge in wholesale prices last month, the biggest jump in more than a decade. The online source for news sports entertainment finance and business news in Ca ada Copyright (C) 2001 The Canadian Press (CP), All rights reserved -0- KEYWORD: WASHINGTON SUBJECT CODE: business * end of story *