ECONOMICS

The US merchandise-trade deficit unexpectedly widened in March to a record as companies continued importing goods to get ahead of tariffs.

The shortfall in goods trade grew 9.6% from a month earlier to $162 billion, Commerce Department data showed Tuesday.

Imports rose 5% to $342.7 billion, led by consumer goods, while exports increased 1.2% as firms scrambled to get ahead of President Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs…

Imports of consumer (more…)

Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on April 23 that California had the fourth-largest economy in the world last year, overtaking Japan.

Construction workers on the site of a new development in Long Beach, Calif., on March 5, 2025. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

According to Newsom’s spokeswoman, Tara Gallegos, the governor used preliminary estimates of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) for 2024, issued by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

Nominal GDP measures the value of goods and services for a state or country using current market prices and is not adjusted for inflation. In contrast, real GDP data is adjusted for inflation.

In addition to BEA data, Newsom also cited data released on April 22 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), ranking each country according to its GDP.

California’s GDP for 2024 was valued at $4.1 trillion by the BEA. According to the IMF, Japan’s GDP was $4.03 trillion in 2024.

In an April 23 statement, Newsom said California’s economy ranked fourth-largest internationally, behind the United States as a whole ($29.2 trillion), China ($18.7 trillion), and Germany ($4.7 trillion).

Newsom said that the state’s 6 percent economic growth in 2024 was a “faster rate than the world’s top three economies.”

The governor touted the strength of the state’s agriculture, high-tech, and manufacturing sectors.

“California isn’t just keeping pace with the world—we’re setting the pace,” Newsom said in a statement. “Our economy is thriving because we invest in people, prioritize sustainability, and believe in the power of innovation.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks in Los Angeles on Sept. 25, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

University of Southern California professor of business management Michael Mische, however, said California’s ranking has more to do with how other economies did last year. (more…)

The 'soft' data decoupling from strengthening 'hard' data just went to '11' as this morning's Dallas Fed Manufacturing survey results were in a word – atrocious.

While Current Production remained positive, manufacturers in the Dallas Fed region have a dour outlook for business activity ahead (printing -35.3, below the lowest analysts expectation)…

Stagflationary trends persist under the hood as New Orders plunged as Prices (more…)