Washington, Sep 19 (IANS): US current account deficit decreased to $117.4 billion in the second quarter, down from $133.6 billion in the first quarter, reported the Commerce Department.
Most of the decline was due to a decrease in the deficit on goods and an increase in the surplus on income, reported Xinhua.
The deficit on goods and services decreased to $139.3 billion in the second quarter from $148.4 billion in the previous quarter. The surplus on income increased to $55.5 billion from $47.4 billion in the first three months of the year.
Meanwhile, the net unilateral current transfers were $33.6 billion in the second quarter, up from the $32.7 billion in the first.
Current account is the broadest measure of foreign trade because it measures not only trade in goods and services, which are tracked by the government on a monthly basis, but also investment flows between countries.