国际英语新闻：U.S. current account deficit up to 109 billion dollars in first quarter

WASHINGTON, June 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. trade deficit in current account in the first quarter of 2010 increased to 109 billion dollars, the highest level in more than a year, reported the Commerce Department.

The 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.

According to the government report, current account deficit in the January-March period reflected a rebounding economy that pushed up imports sharply. The figure in the fourth quarter of 2009 was revised to 100.9 billion dollars.

In 2009, the current account deficit narrowed to 378.4 billion dollars, down a sharp 43.4 percent from the 2008 deficit of 668.9 billion dollars. The big drop reflected a deep recession in the United States, which cut demand for imported goods.

In the first quarter 2010, the current account deficit increased 8 percent, which marked the third straight quarterly increase in the deficit.

As the global economic recovery strengthened, the U.S. export in the first quarter in 2010 increased 5.2 percent, but it was offset by a 6 percent increase of import as the oil prices rose in the period.

Economists believe that the current account deficit will continue to widen this year but will not climb to the previous record levels.

In a report released by the Commerce Department on June 10, the U.S. trade deficit rose to 40.3 billion dollars in April, the biggest monthly trade deficit since December 2008.

In the first four months of this year, the deficit is running at an annual rate of 466.6 billion dollars, 25 percent higher than the year-ago level of 374.9 billion dollars.