[Previous entry: "The Original Haaretz Story"] [Next entry: "The Myth of Zarqawi"]

11/12/2005:

"US trade deficit hits record after Boeing strike and hurricanes"

Record oil prices as a result of Hurricane Katrina and a strike at plane-maker Boeing sent America's trade deficit surging to an unprecedented $66.1bn (£37.8bn) in September, the US commerce department announced yesterday.

Shattering the previous record shortfall of $60.4bn in February, the scale of the deterioration shocked a Wall Street that had been bracing itself for bad news following the devastation to Louisiana and Mississippi at the end of August.

"We knew that there were going to be some hurricane-related distortions in the September data. But this really exceeded our worst fears. This was a turn for the worst," said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist for Bank of New York.
guardian.co.uk