US November trade report leaves Q4 GDP tracking at 1.6%

In November, US nominal monthly trade deficit in goods narrowed to 60.5 bn, from that of the previous month's value of 61.3bn dollars, as per the advance report on international trade in goods by Census bureau.

This deficit was narrower than what was forecasted. In exports, nominal goods drooped 2% mom, with decreases accross all end use categories. Other goods category dropped 15.6% on the month, reversing previous month's gain.

The trade prices alongside already reported by BLS for November, indicate that the real goods deficit narrowed modestly on month which implies a smaller drag from net trade in Q4 and a modest boost to GDP growth. 

"This effect was partially offset by better-than-expected net exports of capital goods that trimmed our estimate of equipment investment. Overall, our Q4 GDP tracking estimate rose one-tenth, to 1.6%", says Barclays in a research note.