America’s deficit in the broadest measure of international trade showed a slight improvement in the July-September quarter although it was still at the third highest level in history.
The Commerce Department reported that the deficit in the U.S. current account totaled $195.8 billion in the third quarter. That was down 1 percent from the deficit in the April-June quarter of $197.8 billion, which had been a 0.4 percent improvement from the record deficit of $198.7 billion set in the first three months of the year. The third quarter figure was below the $205 billion imbalance that had been forecast.
