The August 2012 international trade deficit increased 4.1 percent from July, to $44.2 billion. Exports fell 1.0 percent, to $181.3 billion, and imports declined 0.1 percent, to $225.5 billion.
August 2012 wholesale inventories were $487.5 billion, up 0.5 percent from July and up 5.3 percent from one year earlier. Sales were $405.4 billion, up 0.9 percent from July and up 2.1 percent from August 2011.
August 2012 new orders for manufactured durable goods decreased 5.2 percent, to $452.8 billion. Shipments fell 0.3 percent, to $476.9 billion. Unfilled orders decreased 1.7 percent, to $978.8 billion. And inventories rose 0.6 percent, to $611.8 billion.
Construction spending in August 2012 was $837.1 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, down 0.6 percent from the revised July 2012 estimate but up 6.5 percent from August 2011.
Sales of new single-family houses in August were 373,000 at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, down 0.3 percent from July’s revised level, but up 27.7% from August 2011.
