U.S. Current Account Deficit Hits All-Time High, February Retail Sales Fall 1.3%

[mandy]

America's deficit in the broadest measure of international trade surged to an all-time high of US$804.9 billion last year as the country went deeper into debt to foreigners. The Commerce Department said the deficit in the current account was up 20.4 percent from the previous record of $668.1 billion set in 2004.

The unprecedented flow of American assets into foreign hands has raised economic anxieties that the United States is opening itself up too much to the rest of the world. Those concerns were evident in the uproar over the purchase of operations at six major U.S. ports by a company owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates.

The retail sales report showed that demand for autos dropped a sharp 4.6 percent in February, the biggest one-month decline since an 11.7 percent fall last August.

Excluding autos, retail sales fell 0.4 percent in February, the biggest drop in the non-auto category since April 2004.

Sales at clothing stores were down 3.3 percent with furniture and appliance stores also posting big declines.

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