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Commerce Department Statement on U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services in December 2011


Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–February 10, 2012.  U.S. Secretary of Commerce John Bryson issued the following statement today on the release of 2011 international trade numbers and the December 2011 U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services report (PDF) by the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis. Today’s report showed that the U.S. remains on course to reach President Obama’s National Export Initiative (NEI) goal of doubling exports by the end of 2014. U.S. goods and services exports in 2011 were up 14.5 percent or $265.5 billion from the same period of 2010 to reach a record $2.1 trillion, with record levels of exports in most major merchandise categories. That follows a 16.7 percent overall increase in 2010. U.S. exports of services were a record $604.9 billion, pushing our trade surplus in services for 2011 to a record $179.0 billion.

Meanwhile, exports of goods and services in December 2011 increased 0.7 percent from November 2011 to $178.8 billion, with this month’s exports of services, $51.7 billion, the highest on record. U.S. imports of goods and services increased by 1.3 percent to reach $227.6 billion, causing the U.S. trade deficit to increase by 3.7 percent to reach $48.8 billion in December 2011.

“U.S. exports posted a record $2.1 trillion in 2011, helping to fuel the positive momentum we have seen in the U.S. economy as a whole. Given the growth over the past two years, we remain on track to realize the president’s National Export Initiative goal of doubling U.S. exports by the end of 2014. The private sector has recorded 23 consecutive months of job growth, creating 3.7 million jobs, and U.S. manufacturers have added 404,000 American jobs in the last two years, the strongest growth since the 1990s,” said Commerce Secretary John Bryson. “While today’s news is further evidence that we continue to make progress, we still have more work to do. We must redouble our efforts to create an economy that’s built to last. This means breaking down barriers, opening doors and helping businesses build it here and sell it everywhere by supporting manufacturing, continuing to increase our exports and attracting more investment to America from all over the world.”

Fact sheet (PDF)

Source: commerce.gov


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