America's Trade Deficit Decreases

The Bureau of Economic Analysis released its monthly report on U.S. International Trade in Goods and Serviceson July 11^th.  As of May, America is running a $48.7 billion trade deficit.  The trade deficit was revised downward from its previous estimate of $50.1 billion in April.  Exports of goods and services rose $0.4 billion during May – due mostly to an increase in the exports of services – and imports decreased by $1.6 billion.  While the imports of goods decreased, imports of services actually increased.  America’s goods deficit with China contributes greatly to the overall trade deficit, and in the month of May, the goods deficit with the nation of over 1.3 billion increased $1.4 billion to $26.0 billion total.

Airline Customer Service Rankings

The Wall Street Journal's Middle Seat article presents its rankings of major airlines based upon different aspects of customer service, including on-time arrivals, flight delays, baggage handling and canceled flights.  The chart from the article shows the rankings across the various categories of seven major airlines, among which American placed last overall and Alaska, the smallest of the seven, placed first.  Also noteworthy was Delta's second place ranking, which is up from ninth in 2010 among major airlines.  American Airlines' poor ranking comes as no surprise, as the airline filed for bankruptcy in November.  According to the article, the airline blames its aging fleet, as frequent mechanical breakdowns have caused increased cancellations.  It also blames extraordinary weather, including a hailstorm in Dallas that damaged 50 jets.  The article also points out the detrimental effect that United and Continental's 2010 merger has had on customer service.