Dion Rabouin
WASHINGTON DC: The U.S. current account defi-cit, the difference between what goods, services and investments Americans are buying from other countries versus what they are selling, jumped to $188.5 billion in the fourth quarter.
Why it matters: That was the largest shortfall since 2007.
Keeping score: Former President Trump cited the large U.S. current account deficit as a primary justification for the trade war with China.
The deficit more than doubled from $83.9 billion when Trump took office in the first quarter of 2017.
Even prior to the pandemic, the current account deficit had risen notably, touching $114.6 billion in the first quarter of 2020.
Almost half of small businesses fear closing before end of Q2: Half of all women-owned businesses and nearly 6 in 10 small businesses owned by people of color (59%) are “highly concerned” about keeping their firms solvent through the end of the second quarter, a new survey from Alignable shows.
The big picture: Almost half of all businesses (45%) said they were “highly concerned” about their ability to keep the lights on, including close to two-thirds of all beauty salons (63%) and caterers (63%).
An additional 30% of all small business owners in the survey said they were “somewhat concerned,” meaning 75% of the 5,306 small business owners who took Alignable’s poll are concerned.
Details: 41% of all small business owners say they only have one month or less of cash reserves (up from 32% in February).
49% were not able to pay March rent (up from 38% last month).
74% report significant problems receiving their PPP funds, while only 26% say the PPP provided their loans quickly and easily.
