U.S. trade deficit broke record in quarter

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Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2000 | 11 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Americans' hearty appetite for foreign goods helped catapult the nation's trade deficit to a record $106.1 billion in the second quarter based on the broadest measure of trade.

In the April-June quarter the deficit widened 4.6 percent from an imbalance of $101.5 billion recorded in the previous quarter, the Commerce Department said Wednesday in its "current account" report on international transactions.

The current account is considered the best gauge of a country's international economic standing because it measures not only the goods and services reflected in the government's monthly trade reports, but also investment flows between countries.