The Economic Tide Turns

The US continues to rattle the saber and cause uncertainty on the world front. Yet, at home the economy is showing worrying signs of instability itself. Could it be that all of this investment in Iraq has had an impact at home?

The Globe and Mail in Canada reported on Thursday, http://www.theglobeandmail.com

"The U.S. trade deficit surged to another record as the country's foreign oil bill climbed sharply, auto imports rose and Americans' taste for imported wines helped increase the deficit in food products.

In other economic news, the number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits rose to 303,000 last week, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week. It was the first time the level of jobless claims has been above 300,000 in eight weeks.

America's trade deficit hit a record of $723.6-billion for all of 2005 and many economists believe this year's imbalance will be even worse. The $68.5-billion January deficit in trade in goods and services surpassed the old monthly record of $67.8-billion set last October."

Then across the pond, here in the UK, London's Daily Telegraph reports on the purchasing ISA's before the cutoff of April 5th, Donna Bradshaw, IFG Group, was quoted as saying: (see this link for more information: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/

"Avoid: USA

Ms Bradshaw said: "We do not have faith in Bush, and we are still very cautious about the level of consumer borrowing."

Perhaps war isn't as good for the economy as was previously thought.

I welcome your comments.

Ellen Riches