Washington (EFE) , in English).
In the second month of the year, imports fell by 1.5%, while exports fell by 2.7%, at a time when the effects that interest rate rises could have on the economy are being closely watched. US economy.
This is the third consecutive month that this indicator has risen, after a 21% drop in November of last year, in a delicate global economic context and high inflation rates, which have led the Federal Reserve to implement a series of increases in interest rates, which seek to cool the economy.
In February, imports fell by 5,000 million dollars compared to January, to stand at 321,700 dollars.
Meanwhile, exports fell by 6,900 million dollars, to 251,200 dollars.
The deficit stood at 70,500 million dollars, 1,900 more than in January, when it stood at 68,700 million, after a revision of the figure.
In the average of the last three months, a measure used by economists to determine the trend, the average deficit of goods and services increased by 3,300 million to 68,000 million dollars.
Average exports fell $0.3 billion to $252.7 billion, while average imports fell $3 billion to $321.5 billion.
In interannual terms, the deficit fell by 35,500 million, with a rise in exports of 10.8%, to 49,500 million dollars and a rise in imports of 2.2% to 14,000 million dollars.
Exports of goods fell by 8.5 billion to 169.2 billion dollars in February, while exports of services increased by 1.7 billion to 82 billion.
Regarding imports, those of goods decreased by 5,800 million to 262,200 million, while those of services decreased by 800 million to 59,500 million.
By region, the deficit with the European Union stood at 18.1 billion dollars in February, while the deficit with China stood at 25.2 billion dollars.